I  at  Dlinois  at  Urb«ni-Ch»mpjign 


This  book  has  been 
digitized  through 
the  generosity  of 

Robert  O.  Blissard 
Class  of  1957 


University  of  Illinois  Library  at  Urbana-Champaign 


MEMORIAL  VOLUME 

LIFE  AND  LABORS 

OF 

DWIGHT  L.  MOODY 

THE  GREAT  EVANGELIST 

CONTAINING    A    FULL    ACCOUNT    OF    HIS    GRAND   CAREER;    HIS 

REMARKABLE   TRAITS  OF  CHARACTER;   HIS  WORLD-WIDE 

FAME  AS  ORATOR  AND  PHILANTHROPIST;  BURNING 

ZEAL  AND  DEVOTION  IN  THE  CAUSE 

OF  CHRISTIANITY 

INCLUDING  HIS  BRILLIANT  DISCOURSES;  PITHY  SAYINGS;  FAMOUS 

CONFERENCES  AT  NORTHFIELD  ;    GLOWING  TRIBUTES 

TO  HIS  LIFE  AND  LABORS  FROM  THE  PULPIT 

THE  PRESS,  ETC.,  ETC. 

We  shall  meet  beyond  the  river,  by  and  by,  by  and  by  ; 
And  the  darkness  shall  be  over,  by  and  by,  by  and  by  ; 
We  shall  strike  the  harps  of  glory,  by  and  by,  by  and  by  ; 
We  shall  sing  redemption's  story,  by  and  by,  by  and  by. 

From  Mr.  Moody1  s  Favorite  Hymn. 

By  REV.    HENRY    DAVENPORT    NORTHROP,  D.  D. 

Author  of  "  Life  of  Spurgeon",  "Charming  Bible  Stories,"  Etc.,  Etc. 


Profusely  Embellished  with  Superb  Engravings 


A.  B.  KUHLMAN  COMPANY 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 


Entered  according  to  Act  cf  Congress,  in  the  year  1899,  by 

J.     R.    JONEvS, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 
All  Rights  Reserved. 


B- 

.| 


PREFACE. 


DWIGHT  L.  MOODY  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of 
modern  times.  With  few  early  advantages  he  rose  grandly  above 
all  obstacles  and  by  sheer  force  of  character,  untiring  zeal  and 
stirring  appeals  to  the  hearts  of  the  people  became  the  greatest 
Evangelist  of  the  century. 

For  nearly  forty  years  Mr.  Moody's  name  has  been  a  house- 
hold word  both  at  home  and  abroad,  and  during  this  time  no  other 
person  exerted  so  great  an  influence  in  the  religious  world.  Vast 
multitudes  hung  upon  his  lips  and  were  swayed  by  his  over- 
whelming eloquence.  The  results  of  his  labors  are  unparalleled 
in  the  history  of  Christianity. 

He  was  a  giant  among  men,  possessed  of  tireless  energy, 
remarkable  knowledge  of  human  nature,  ready  tact  and  common 
sense,  a  bright  and  sunny  disposition,  and  a  devotion  to  the  sub- 
lime work  in  which  he  was  engaged,  worthy  of  the  grandest  heroes 
and  defenders  of  the  faith  that  the  world  has  ever  known. 

Mr.  Moody's  marvellous  career  is  vividly  depicted  in  this 
volume.  It  pictures  him  in  his  humble  New  England  home ; 
follows  him  to  the  great  city  where  he  goes  to  seek  his  fortune  ; 
relates  his  early  struggles  and  victories ;  tells  of  his  rare  industry 
and  perseverance ;  and  describes  the  humble  manner  in  which  he 
began  his  work  that  aroused  the  whole  Christian  world. 

After  Mr.  Moody  had  carried  on  a  missionary  work  in  Chicago 
which  probably  no  other  man  could  have  performed,  he  and  Mr  ( 
Sankey  began  their  evangelistic  labors  abroad  in  England.  This 
most  interesting  volume  tells  of  the  small  beginnings ;  the  preju- 
dices finally  overcome ;  the  rising  tide  of  Evangelism ;  the  great 
multitudes  ;  and  finally  the  thrill  of  enthusiasm  that  stirred  Great 
Britain  from  centre  to  circumference.  As  we  follow  these  devoted 
men  through  Scotland  and  Ireland  and  finally  to  London,  the 
great  metropolis,  their  career  reads  more  like  a  miraclo  than  the 


iv  PREFACE. 

actions  of  ordinary  men.  From  the  nobility  to  the  denizens  of  the 
lowest  slums  the  people  were  stirred  by  the  pungent  addresses  of 
Mr.  Moody  and  the  Gospel  songs  of  Mr.  Sankey,  his  fellow-laborer. 

The  history  contained  in  this  work  follows  Mr.  Moody  on  his 
return  to  his  native  land,  where  in  Philadelphia,  Brooklyn,  New 
York,  Hartford,  Boston,  Chicago,  St.  Louis  and  other  large  cities 
and  towns,  his  work  was  the  wonder  of  all  beholders  and  the  joy 
of  all  Christian  people.  Pastors  and  churches  were  united ;  the 
largest  buildings  were  secured ;  immense  choirs  were  formed ; 
meetings  were  held  both  week-days  and  Sabbaths ;  and  this  new 
Evangelist  and  his  work  were  the  theme  of  every  tongue. 

Mr.  Moody  was  a  thorough  believer  in  educating  the  young. 
He  knew  that  impressions  could  be  made  upon  young  people  far 
easier  than  upon  those  who  are  older.  His  whole  heart  became 
enlisted  in  educational  work,  and  he  established  his  famous  Semi- 
nary at  Northfield. 

Not  only  did  he  carry  on  this  grand  institution  for  many  years, 
but  his  religious  conventions,  held  in  the  summer  at  the  same 
place,  became  noted  throughout  the  world  and  drew  visitors  from 
far  and  near.  He  showed  himself  to  be  a  marvellous  organizer  as 
well  as  financier. 

"The  Cedar  is  Fallen."  This  expressive  language  of  the 
Bible  is  appropriate  to  Mr.  Moody's  death.  It  was  like  the  fall  of 
the  majestic  cedar  in  the  forest.  He  labored  with  unabated  zeal 
up  to  within  a  very  short  time  of  his  departure.  Never  did  he 
seem  more  earnest  or  eloquent  than  during  his  last  services.  His 
removal  produced  a  shock  throughout  the  religious  world.  Chris- 
tian people  everywhere  have  united  in  hearty  praise  of  the  man 
and  his  glorious  work. 

Mr.  Sankey  paid  the  following  generous  tribute  to  his  friend 
and  associate:  "I  consider  Dwight  L.  Moody  to  have  been  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  men  of  the  century,  distinguished  especially 
for  his  devotion  to  the  cause  of  Christ  and  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  to  the  world.  His  character  was  marked  by  great  common 
sense  and  devotion  to  his  Master.  To  these  two  points  I  attribute 
in  a  great  measure  his  wonderful  success." 


DWIGHT     L.     MOODY 

THE  GREATEST    EVANGELIST   OF  THE   CENTURY 


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PART   I. 
LIFE  AND   LABORS 

OF 

DWIGHT  L  MOODY 

CHAPTER  I. 
Moody's  Marvellous  Career. 

nearly  forty  years  Dwight  Lyman  Moody  has  been  a  lead- 
ing figure  in  the  evangelical  work  of  this  country  and  Eng- 
1?-" 4.     He  began  his  great  work  in  1860,   and  it  was  continued 
witii  unceasing  vigor  to  within  a  short  period  of  his  death. 

A  man  of  sturdy  frame,  great  physical  strength  and  endur- 
ance, energy  that  seemed  inexhaustible  and  a  hearty  manner 
that  drew  people  to  him,  his  power  was  felt  by  all  classes  of 
people,  and  his  achievements  are  the  wonder  of  the  age.  v 

Mr.  Moody  was  born  in  Northfield,  Mass.,  in  1837.  His 
father  died  when  he  was  but  four  years  of  age,  leaving  a  large 
family  in  a  destitute  condition.  At  seventeen  years  of  age  he  was 
given  a  position  in  his  uncle's  shoe  store  in  Boston,  on  the  condi- 
tion that  he  should  spend  his  evenings  at  home  and  regularly 
attend  Sunday-school.  He  joined  church  in  Boston.  Soon  after 
he  removed  to  Chicago  and  entered  a  boot  and  shoe  store. 
There  Mr.  Moody  began  to  labor  at  every  opportunity  among  the 
waifs  and  ruffians  of  the  city.  He  established  Sunday-schools  and 
missions,  gathering  in  the  little  outcasts  and  sparing  no  efforts  to 
start  them  in  a  better  life. 

At  the  sessions  of  the  Sunday-school  he  was  all  energy  and 
vigor.  Before  long  he  gave  up  his  work  in  the  store  and  devoted 
himself  exclusively  to  Christain  effort.  This  was  in  1860.  He 
had  labored  under  difficulties  on  account  of  a  defective  education, 

and  now  he  set  to  work  with  diligence  to  relieve  this  defect.     His 
2  17 


18  MOODY' S   MARVELLOUS    CAREER. 

eloquence  and  peculiar  power  as  a  preacher  began  to  attract  much 
attention. 

In  1871,  while  attending  a  convention  of  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Associations  at  Indianapolis,  lie  first  met  Ira  D.  Sankey.  He 
induced  him  to  go  to  Chicago  and  help  him  in  his  work,  and 
afterward  the  two  worked  together  with  great  success.  In  1873 
they  crossed  the  Atlantic  and  spent  some  time  in  the  principal 
cities  of  Great  Britain,  gaining  many  converts.  They  made  a  very 
successful  tour  of  the  United  States  after  their  return.  Two  more 
tours  in  Europe,  spent  chiefly  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  were 
fruitful  in  good  results. 

VAST    AUDIENCES    AND   WONDERFUL    SCENES. 

After  Moody  and  Sankey  returned  from  their  first  English 
tour  in  1875  they  organized  series  of  religious  revivals  in  many 
parts  of  the  United  States.  They  went  to  Philadelphia  in 
November,  1875,  and  conducted  meetings,  which  were  attended  by 
immense  throngs,  in  the  old  Pennsylvania  Railroad  freight  depot 
at  Thirteenth  and  Market  Sts.,  which  had  been  especially  prepared 
for  their  work.  At  that  time  Mr.  Moody  was  a  strong-headed,  vehe- 
ment man,  being  filled  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm  for  his  work, 
and  disposed,  like  Whitefield  of  old,  to  shake  sinners  over  the 
very  pit  of  destruction. 

The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  freight  depot  was  at  that  time 
for  sale.  The  neighborhood  was  dull  and  uninviting  at  night, 
comparatively  deserted  and  poorly  lighted.  When  the  suggestion 
was  made  that  the  property  would  be  temporarily  renovated  for  an 
auditorium  until  the  railroad  company  found  a  purchaser  for  it, 
there  was  a  good  deal  of  derision,  especially  over  the  thought  that 
President  "Tom"  Scott  was  helping  along  the  cause  of  religion. 
But  Scott  had  a  hearty  and  large  way  of  doing  things,  and  he  told 
the  men  behind  Moody  that  they  could  have  the  use  of  the  prop- 
erty at  the  rate  of  a  dollar  a  year,  provided  they  were  ready  to  get 
out  at  a  month's  notice,  when  the  company  should  effect  a  sale. 

It  was  about  this  period,  however,  that  a  Philadelphia  mer- 
chant was  forming  his  plans  to  branch  out  in  a  business  way. 


MOODY' S  MARVELLOUS  CAREER.  19 

He  made  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  an  offer  for  the  old 
depot  and  became  its  purchaser,  but  before  proceeding  to  occupy 
it  he  consented  that  the  interior  should  be  temporarily  recon- 
structed for  the  great  revival  of  which  he  had  been  one  of  the  chief 
projectors. 

In  a  few  weeks  there  came  into  existence  an  immense  hall. 
Probably  at  least  $40,000  was  spent  in  its  construction  and  equip- 
ment. The  first  floor  of  the  depot  was  fitted  up  with  not  fewer 
than  10,000  seats  with  a  platform  big  enough  to  hold  a  regiment, 
with  spacious  aisles  and  retiring  rooms.  The  original  intention 
had  been  to  engage  the  Academy  of  Music  for  Moody  and  Sankey, 
but  this  was  overruled  by  George  H.  Stuart,  who  insisted  that  the 
novelty  of  such  an  auditorium  as  the  one  at  the  depot  would  alone 
draw  thousands.  This  judgment  was  entirely  correct. 

GREAT   RELIGIOUS    ENTHUSIASM. 

The  success  of  the  undertaking,  from  the  religious  point  of 
view,  surpassed  even  his  eager  expectations.  Multitudes  filled 
the  hall  day  after  day  from  November  to  February  ;  even  Presi- 
dent Grant  visited  it  on  one  occasion.  As  many  as  200  ushers  were 
required  to  clear  the  aisles  at  the  end  of  each  service,  or  to  guard 
the  "inquiry  rooms,"  and  on  some  days  prayer  meetings  were 
going  on  at  a  dozen  places  in  the  neighborhood,  like  Dr.  McCook's 
church  and  Dr.  Boardman's  church. 

Such  a  swarm  of  sinners  smitten  with  repentance  or  softened 
and  mastered  by  the  emotions  of  a  new  and  sudden  ecstacy  had 
not  before  been  seen  since  the  days  when  George  Whitefield  thun- 
dered out  his  eloquence.  Irreligious  people  smiled  with  a  half- 
amused  contempt ;  the  worldly  made  Moody  and  Sankey  a  butt 
for  ridicule,  and  not  at  times  unpardonably,  when  the  exultation 
of  converts  reached  the  point  of  intense  frenzy  ;  Kennard  Jones, 
the  then  Chief  of  Police,  had  his  hands  full  in  regulating  the 
beseiging  crowds,  and  in  thousands  of  homes  and  workshops  that 
winter  men  and  women  were  talking  for  the  first  time  in  their 
lives  of  "grace,"  "salvation"  and  "regeneration."  It  was  esti- 
mated that  fully  twelve  thousand  persons  were  taken  into  the 


MOODY'S    MARVELLOUS   CAREER.  21 

As  a  writer,  Mr.  Moody  also  exercised  a  widespread  influence. 
Among  his  principal  works  have  been  :  "The  Second  Coming  of 
Christ"  (1877) ;  "The  Way  and  the  Word"  (1877) ;  "The  Secret 
Power;  or,  The  Secret  of  Success  in  Christian  Life  and  Work" 
(1881) ;  "The  Way  to  God  and  How  to  Find  It"  (1884) ;  "Glad 
Tidings"  (1876);  "Arrows  and  Anecdotes"  (1877);  "Best 
Thoughts  and  Discourses"  (1877).  Both  as  a  writer  and  preacher 
the  predominant  quality  of  Moody' s  style  was  directness,  sim- 
plicity. His  sermons  were  largely  anecdotal,  but  the  illustrations 
were  always  reverent,  powerful  and  convincing.  He  was  especially 
fond  of  the  parables,  and  his  preaching  was  in  large  measure  based 
upon  their  form  and  teaching. 

SCHOOLS    FOR   YOUNG    PEOPLE    AT    NORTHFIELD. 

During  the  twelve  years  preceding  Mr.  Moody' s  death  his 
educational  work  at  Northfield,  Mass.,  grew  to  large  proportions. 
First  he  opened  his  own  home  for  a  few  young  ladies,  and  thus 
started  his  young  ladies'  boarding  school.  Next  he  erected  a 
modest  building  across  the  way  ;  then  East  Hall  was  built  at  a 
cost  of  $30,000.  Next  followed  Frederick  Marquand  Hall,  costing 
$60,000,  the  gift  of  the  Marquand  estate.  Following  was  Stone 
Hall.  A  new  library  building  was  then  erected,  costing  $20,000, 
and  an  additional  dormitory,  costing  a  like  amount.  Two  addi- 
tional frame  houses  were  fitted  up  for  dormitories.  These  facilities 
afforded  accommodation  for  about  300  young  ladies. 

The  school  buildings  occupy  250  acres,  which  are  beautifully 
laid  out  in  park  and  woodland,  traversed  by  a  romantic  glen, 
called  Bonar  Glen.  An  artificial  lake  of  some  three  acres  has  been 
provided  at  a  cost  of  $4,000.  Mount  Hermon,  the  school  for 
young  men,  is  about  two  miles  from  Northfield.  It  is  beautifully 
situated  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Connecticut  river,  and  consists  of 
400  acres,  purchased  at  a  cost  of  $12,500.  This  school  was  started 
with  a  gift  of  $25,000  from  Mr.  Hiram  Camp,  of  New  Haven.  It 
was  opened  in  the  old  farm  building,  with  the  addition  of  a  wooden 
building,  for  a  recitation  hall. 

Next,  four  brick  buildings  were  erected  and  a  large  dining 


22  MOODY' S   MARVELLOUS   CAREER. 

hall.  But  soon  the  school  exceeded  the  proportions  of  these 
buildings,  and  Crossley  Hall  and  a  new  dining  hall  was  erected, 
with  accommodations  for  over  200  additional  students,  and  with 
halls  for  chapel,  library,  museum,  etc.  Over  a  thousand  young 
men  and  women,  representing  a  dozen  different  nationalities,  have 
been  trained  in  these  schools.  Mr.  Moody  was  no  fanatic.  His 
extraordinary  energy  in  religious  work  was  accompanied  with 
broad  and  enlightened  views  on  the  subject  of  education,  by  the 
practical  results  of  which  the  whole  world  was  benefited. 

"  Be  good  and  you  will  be  happy."  This  was  Mr.  Moody' s 
motto,  and  he  lived  up  to  it  to  the  time  of  his  death.  If  any  one 
could  have  doubted  this  homely  maxim  they  could  have  found 
fulfilment  of  its  promise  by  looking  into  and  studying  the  life  of 
the  great  evangelist.  There  probably  never  was  a  man  who 
accepted  and  practiced  and  instilled  religion  with  so  much  cheer- 
fulness and  heart  sunshine  as  did  Mr.  Moody. 

THE    BUSINESS    OF    HIS    LIFE. 

His  life's  aim  was  to  "never  lose  an  opportunity  to  make 
somebody  happy,"  and  when  opportunities  did  not  offer  he  made 
them.  For  forty  years  Mr.  Moody  had  been  in  the  business  of 
"making  people  happy."  If  he  had  expended  the  same  amount 
of  energy  and  ingenuity  in  any  mercantile  or  professional  line,  he 
would  undoubtedly  have  accumulated  a  fortune.  Instead,  he  was 
as  poor  when  he  died  as  when  he  started  upon  the  career  of  an 
evangelist,  except  for  the  wealth  of  love  and  reverence  and  grati- 
tude that  rushed  to  him  from  thousands  of  hearts. 

Mr.  Moody' s  success  was  not  confined  to  America.  In  Eng- 
land he  made  a  great  stir,  and  the  people  of  the  London  slums 
stopped  and  listened  to  this  bright,  fresh,  hearty  New  Englander, 
who  got  down  to  their  own  level  and  extended  a  cordial,  chubby 
hand  in  greeting,  while  he  offered  them  a  religion,  not  of  sackcloth 
and  ashes,  but  of  rejoicing  and  thanksgiving. 

Therein  was  the  secret  of  Mr.  Moody' s  success.  He  rose  to 
his  pulpit — and  it  was  any  pulpit,  regardless  of  place  or  denomi- 
nation— with  a  smile  on  his  lips  and  in  his  eyes,  which  gave 


24  MOODY' S   MARVELLOUS   CAREER. 

His  death  removes  from  religious  life  a  great  force  which, 
made  for  the  improvement  of  men  and  of  society.  He  had  his 
predecessors  and  he  will  have  his  successors.  Somewhere  there 
is  to-day  some  young  man  behind  a  counter  or  in  a  railroad  office 
who  will  continue  his  work  ;  just  as  he  took  up  the  work  which 
Finney  dropped  ;  just  as  Finney  at  a  longer  interval  resumed 
the  work  before  done  by  Wesley  and  Whitefield. 

Nothing  is  wider  of  the  truth  than  to  imagine  that  men  like 
Mr.  Moody  create  their  opportunities.  They  find  them  and 
receive  them.  Great  religious  forces  always  exist  in  society. 
Great  religious  desires  are  there.  Men  are  not  religious  because 
religions  exist.  Religions  exist  because  men  are  religious. 
There  is  present  in  every  life,  however  careless  and  however 
depraved  ;  however  busy  and  however  thronged  ;  however  ignorant 
or  however  commonplace  ;  a  dim,  dumb  desire  for  an  interpretation 
of  the  universe  ;  a  wish  faint,  fitful  and  feeble,  but  none  the  less 
real,  for  some  word  or  message  which  will  set  the  soul  in  har- 
mony, bring  life  in  tune  and  in  unison  with  its  better  purpose, 
free  men  from  the  chains  of  habit  and  desire  and  give  them  an 
impulse  upward. 

A    DESIRE    COMMON    TO    ALL    MEN. 

This  wish  is  universal.  It  exists  as  a  fact  in  the  observation 
of  every  man  within  himself,  and  without  in  the  men  about  him. 
Whether  one  accepts  or  rejects  the  sufficient  explanation  that  this 
is  due  to  spiritual  and  divine  forces,  which  ensphere  the  lesser  life 
of  man,  it  remains  true  as  a  simple  fact,  apparent  to  all,  that  the 
wish  and  desire  for  moral  harmony  between  the  soul  and  those 
things  in  the  world  about  which  make  for  righteousness  can  be 
observed  in  every  nature  and  felt  by  every  man.  This  fact  is  as 
demonstrable  by  experience  and  as  unmistakable  in  its  record  as 
any  in  the  round  of  human  nature. 

Whenever  any  man  like  Mr.  Moody,  with  sincerity,  with  faith, 
with  earnestness  and  with  eloquence,  faces  this  unspoken  yearning 
for  deliverance  from  sin,  the  response  is  instant.  He  succeeds  in 
his  appeal  for  exactly  the  same  reason  that  the  original  appeal  of 


CHAPTER  II. 

Early  History  of  the  Great  Evangelist. 

1\  l\  R.  MOODY'S  father  died  when  he  was  only  four  years  old,  and 
*  *  *•  a  few  weeks  later  twins  were  born,  leaving  the  widow  with 
nine  children  to  care  for.  The  little  farm  upon  which  they  lived 
was  encumbered  by  a  mortgage.  Mrs.  Moody,  whose  birthday  was 
the  same  as  his  own,  died  in  1896,  at  the  age  of  ninety.  Her 
heroic  struggles  to  keep  a  roof  over  the  heads  of  her  large  family 
were  greatly  appreciated  by  her  children,  five  of  whom  survived 
their  distinguished  brother.  The  noble  heart  of  the  evangelist 
never  showed  itself  more  plainly  than  when  he  referred  to  the 
brave  woman,  who  struggled  against  privations  that  would  have 
made  many  persons  break  up  their  families  and  send  their 
children  to  charitable  institutions. 

The  early  history  of  Dwight  L.  Moody  was  not  such  as  to 
suggest  that  he  would  some  day  become  the  dominant  personality 
of  the  Bnglish-speaking  religious  world.  Northfield,  the  first  and 
last  home,  regarded  him  as  an  "irrepressible,"  and  his  widowed 
mother  expressed  many  anxious  fears  as  to  the  future  of  a  boy  so 
full  of  animal  spirits,  so  reluctant  to  study,  so  impatient  of  con- 
trol. Dwight  at  first  preferred  farm  work  to  the  village  school. 

There  are  many  persons  still  living  who  recall  Mr.  Moody 
at  that  time  of  life.  They  say  on  the  whole  he  differed  little  from 
the  boys  of  his  time.  It  was  during  this  period  of  life,  however, 
that  his  strong-minded  mother  planted  within  him  those  seeds  of 
greatness  which  later  bore  remarkable  fruit.  Mrs.  Betsey  Holton 
Moody,  the  mother  of  the  evangelist,  was  a  remarkable  woman. 
To  her  more  than  to  the  father  was  the  famous  son  indebted. 

The  sturdiness  of  the  mother  asserted  itself  on  the  death  of 
her  husband.  In  those  years,  when  her  children  were  young,  she 
struggled  nobly  through  poverty  and  hardship.  To  her  the  son 

is  indebted  for  many  of  the  elements  that  made  him  great. 

27 


28  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  GREAT  EVANGELIST. 

When  Dwight  was  seventeen  years  old,  with  his  mother's 
permission  he  went  to  Boston  to  seek  employment.  His  mother's 
brother  was  a  shoe  merchant  in  that  city,  and  he  gave  his  nephew 
work  on  two  conditions  :  that  he  should  be  governed  by  his  advice, 
and  attend  regularly  the  Sunday-school  and  services  of  the  Mount 
Vernon  Congregational  Church.  After  Mr.  Moody' s  conversion 
he  applied  for  membership  in  the  church.  It  is  interesting  to 
know  what  was  thought  of  his  future  at  that  time.  His  teacher 
said  that" he  was  very  "unlikely  to  become  a  Christian  of  clear 
and  decided  views  of  Gospel  truth,  still  less  to  fill  any  extended 
sphere  of  public  usefulness." 

The  committee  by  whom  his  application  for  admission  was 
considered  were  doubtful  at  first  about  receiving  him,  owing  to  his 
defective  knowledge  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Church,  but  after 
waiting  a  number  of  months  for  him  to  acquaint  himself  more 
thoroughly  with  these  doctrines,  he  was  received.  He  at  once 
became  an  energetic  worker  in  the  Sunday-school,  and  was  noted 
for  his  plainness  of  speech  in  the  prayer  meeting. 

WAS   ADVISED    TO    KEEP    STILL. 

In  the  fall  of  1856  Mr.  Moody  went  to  Chicago  and  became  a 
salesman  in  the  shoe  trade.  He  entered  the  Plymouth  Congre- 
gational Church,  and  showed  his  earnest  spirit  by  renting  four 
pews,  which  he  kept  filled  with  young  men  and  boys.  He  also 
wanted  to  take  part  in  the  prayer  meetings,  but  suggestions  were 
given  to  the  effect  that  he  could  best  serve  the  Lord  by  keeping 
still.  But  Mr.  Moody  was  not  to  be  silenced.  He  asked  if  he 
might  become  a  Sunday-school  teacher,  and  was  told  that  he  could 
if  he  would  bring  his  own  scholars. 

The  next  Sunday  he  marched  into  the  school-room  at  the  head 
of  eighteen  ragged  boys,  whom  he  had  collected  during  the  week. 
Later  he  started  a  mission  of  his  own  in  an  empty  tavern  in 
North  Chicago.  His  school  grew  so  much  that  North  Market 
Hall  was  occupied,  and  John  V.  Farwell  supplied  benches  for  the 
scholars  and  became  its  superintendent.  Largely  under  Mr. 
Moody' s  personal  canvassing  sixty  teachers  were  obtained,  and 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  GREAT  EVANGELIST.  31 

never  again  be  able  to  undertake  any  active  religious  work  from 
the  public  platform.  When  the  man,  who  for  almost  thirty  years 
had  been  his  constant  companion  and  most  intimate  friend,  heard 
this  decision  from  Mr.  Moody' s  son,  his  throat  filled  up  and  tears 
slowly  trickled  down  his  face.  He  turned  away,  unable  for  a  time 
to  speak. 

Next  to  an  announcement  that  his  greatest  friend  on  earth 
could  not  recover,  no  more  distressing  news  could  have  come  to 
the  man  who  made  famous  "The  Ninety  and  Nine,"  which,  with 
Mr.  Moody' s  eloquent  and  convincing  words,  has  aided  so  largely 
in  changing  for  the  better  the  course  of  so  many  lives. 

FIRST    MEETING    BETWEEN    MOODY   AND    SANKEY. 

The  story  of  how  Mr.  Sankey  first  met  Mr.  Moody  was  told 
by  the  former  upon  a  recent  visit  to  Philadelphia,  shortly  after  he 
had  received  the  intelligence  that  the  world  had  lost  the  services 
of  one  of  its  greatest  evangelists.  It  was  in  the  year  1870,  that 
two  young  men  journeyed  to  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  to  attend  the 
International  Convention  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion. The  one  was  Dwight  L/.  Moody,  who  came  from  Chicago, 
111.,  and  the  other  was  Ira  D.  Sankey,  whose  home  was  at  New- 
castle, Pa. 

They  had  heard  of  each  other,  but  had  never  met.  Moody  had 
already  gained  some  reputation  as  a  speaker,  and  Sankey  for  his 
ability  to  win  souls  by  his  singing  of  hymns,  but  neither  figured 
very  prominently  as  leaders  of  the  exercises  of  the  convention. 
At  that  time  Sankey  was  a  Government  officer  in  Pennsylvania, 
holding  a  commission  in  the  Internal  Revenue  service — a  position 
paying  him  something  like  $1500  a  year.  His  religious  work, 
until  that  time,  had  been  conducted  during  leisure  hours. 

Sankey  had  heard  enough  of  Moody  to  make  him  curious  to 
see  him  and  hear  him  talk,  and  when  he  went  to  the  convention  he 
immediately  commenced  to  look  for  the  young  man  from  Chicago. 
Arriving  at  the  Academy  of  Music,  where  the  convention  was 
being  held,  he  took  a  seat  close  to  the  rear  of  the  hall.  He  waited 
and  listened  for  an  hour  or  so,  but  was  compelled  to  leave  the 


32  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  GREAT  EVANGELIST. 

place  without  even  hearing  anybody  mention  the  name  of  the  man 
for  whom  he  was  hunting. 

Few  people  seemed  to  know  who  Moody  was  or  anything 
about  him.  It  was  afterward  learned  that  Moody  occupied  a  seat 
near  to  the  door  and  close  to  where  Sankey  was  on  the  opening 
day  of  the  convention.  Neither  took  any  very  prominent  part  in 
the  proceedings,  the  greater  portion  of  the  programme  being 
occupied  by  the  more  important  speakers. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  two  men  did  not  occur  until  a  day 
or  so  after  they  had  arrived  at  Indianapolis,  and  then  under  rather 
novel  circumstances.  It  was  announced  that  "Mr.  Moody,  from 
Chicago,"  would  conduct  a  prayer  meeting  on  a  certain  morning 
at  six  o'clock  in  a  little  room  some  distance  away  from  the  Academy 
of  Music.  Notwithstanding  the  early  hour  for  the  service,  San- 
key  determined  to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  see  and 
hear  the  man  whom  until  that  time  he  had  been  unable  to  find. 

THE   GREAT    SINGER   THRILLS   THE    AUDIENCE. 

The  distance  to  the  little  room  where  the  prayer  meeting  was 
to  be  held  was  much  greater  than  Sankey  had  anticipated,  and 
the  service  was  half  through  when  he  arrived.  He  found  a  seat, 
as  he  expressed  it,  in  the  "  amen  corner,"  and  sat  down.  He  had 
scarcely  been  seated  when  somebody  touched  him  on  the  elbow, 
and,  turning  around,  he  discovered  that  he  was  sitting  beside  the 
Rev.  Robert  McMillen,  whom  he  happened  to  know  quite  well. 

McMillen  asked  Sankey  to  take  charge  of  the  singing  at  the 
service,  explaining  that  there  seemed  to  be  nobody  present  who 
could  lead.  At  the  conclusion  of  a  very  lengthy  prayer,  McMillen 
nudged  Sankey,  and  told  him  to  start  right  in  and  sing.  Without 
waiting  for  any  further  invitation,  young  Sankey  arose  and  sang 
with  wonderful  feeling  the  words : — 

"There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood, 

Drawn  from  Immanuel's  veins  ; 
And  sinners  plunged  beneath  that  flood, 
Lose  all  their  guilty  stains." 

The  congregation  forgot  to  join  in  on  the  chorus,  and  Sankey 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  GREAT  EVANGELIST.  33 

finished  the  hymn  by  himself.  Moody  was  well  pleased  with  the 
singing  during  the  remainder  of  the  service.  When  the  meeting 
was  brought  to  a  close  McMillen  asked  Sankey  to  step  forward 
and  he  would  introduce  him  to  Moody.  A  procession  was  formed 
which  slowly  made  its  way  to  the  front  of  the  room,  where  Moody 
was  standing.  As  Sankey  drew  near  Moody  stepped  out  and  took 
him  by  the  hand. 

"Where  are  you  from?  "  Moody  asked. 

"Pennsylvania,"  replied  Sankey.      1 

"Married  or  single?" 

"Married.     I  have  a  wife  and  one  child." 

"  What  do  you  do  for  a  living  when  you  are  at  home  ?  " 

"  I  am  in  the  Government  service." 

All  this  time  Moody  had  been  holding  Sankey' s  hand.  Look- 
ing down  into  his  face  with  his  keen  black  eyes  he  said : — 

"  Well,  you'll  have  to  give  it  up." 

HAD    BEEN    LOOKING    FOR    HIM. 

Sankey  stood  amazed  and  was  at  loss  to  understand  just  what 
Moody  meant  by  telling  him  he  would  have  to  give  up  what  was  to 
him  a  good  position  and  one  affording  him  a  very  comfortable  liv- 
ing. He  was  so  taken  back  for  a  few  seconds  that  he  could  make 
no  reply.  Moody,  however,  explained  what  he  had  meant. 

"  You'll  have  to  give  up  your  Government  position  and  come 
with  me.  You  are  just  the  man  I  have  been  looking  for  for  a  long 
time.  I  want  you  to  come  with  me.  You  can  do  the  singing  and 
I'll  do  the  talking." 

Sankey  by  this  time  partly  recovered  from  his  surprise,  but 
the  thought  of  giving  up  a  good  position  for  an  uncertainty  was 
too  much,  and  he  begged  for  time  in  which  to  consider  the  matter. 
Moody  asked  him  if  he  would  go  with  him  and  pray  over  the 
question,  and  out  of  politeness  Sankey  consented.  Moody  prayed 
that  Sankey  would  see  his  way  clear  to  do  as  he  had  asked,  and 
Sankey  argued  within  himself  against  the  proposition.  The  two 
finally  parted  and  Sankey  returned  to  his  room  impressed  by 
Moody' s  prayer,  but  still  undecided.  That  was  on  Sunday.  All 
3 


34  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  GREAT  EVANGELIST. 

that  day  and  night  Sankey  thought  over  Moody 's  words,  but  the 
next  morning  found  him  still  inclined  to  stick  to  the  Government 
position  with  its  salary  assured  every  month. 

Just  at  a  moment  when  he  was  more  inclined  to  be  wavering 
than  anything  else,  a  card  was  brought  to  him.  He  examined  it 
and  found  it  was  from  Moody,  and  asking  him  to  meet  him  at  a 
certain  street  corner  that  evening  at  six  o'clock.  Without  knowing 
what  he  was  wanted  for,  Sankey  wrote  an  acceptance  upon  the 
back  of  the  card  and  returned  it  to  Moody.  Together  with  a  few 
friends  he  went  to  the  appointed  place  at  six  o'clock  that  evening, 
and  in  a  few  seconds  Moody  came  along. 

PREACHING  FROM  A  DRY-GOODS  BOX. 

Without  even  stopping  to  speak,  Moody  walked  on  and  into 
a  store  nearby  and  asked  permission  to  use  "a  store  box.  The 
permission  was  given,  and  Moody  rolled  the  large  box  out  on  to 
the  street  corner,  and  then,  calling  Sankey  aside,  asked  him  to 
get  up  and  sing  something.  Sankey  complied,  and  after  one  or 
two  hymns  had  been  sung  Moody  crawled  up  on  to  the  box  and 
commenced  to  preach.  The  workingmen  were  just  on  their  way 
home  from  the  mills  and  factories,  and  in  a  short  time  Moody  had 
secured  a  large  crowd.  Sankey  says  of  him  that  he  preached  that 
evening  from  that  store  box  as  he  has  never  heard  him  preach 
since. 

The  crowd  stood  spellbound  as  the  words  fell  from  Moody' s 
lips  with  wonderful  force  and  rapidity.  After  he  had  talked 
for  about  fifteen  minutes  Moody  leaped  down  from  the  box 
and  announced  that  he  was  going  to  hold  a  little  meeting  of  his 
own  at  the  Academy  of  Music,  and  invited  the  crowd  to  accompany 
him  there.  Arm  in  arm  Moody  and  Sankey  marched  down  the 
street  singing  hymn  after  hymn  as  they  went.  The  crowd  followed 
closely  at  their  heels,  and  the  men  with  their  dinner  pails  forgot 
to  go  home,  so  completely  carried  away  were  they  with  the  sermon 
from  the  store  box. 

Speaking  of  that  march  down  the  street,  Sankey  declared  it 
to  have  been  his  first  experience  as  a  Salvation  Armyist.  It  took 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  GREAT  EVANGELIST.  35 

but  a  few  minutes  to  pack  the  Academy  of  Music  to  the  doors,  and 
Moody  saw  that  the  men  in  their  working  clothes  were  first  seated 
before  he  ascended  to  the  platform  to  speak. 

His  second  address  was  as  captivating  as  the  one  delivered  on 
the  street  corner,  and  it  was  not  until  the  delegates  had  arrived 
for  the  evening  session  of  the  convention  that  the  meeting  was 
brought  to  a  close.  Sankey  was  still  undecided  when  Moody 
again  brought  up  the  question  of  their  going  together.  However, 
he  accepted  an  invitation  to  spend  a  week  with  Moody,  and  before 
that  week  was  over  he  had  sent  his  commission  to  Hugh  McCul- 
lough,  who  was  at  that  time  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  a 
soldier  who  had  been  imprisoned  at  Libby  Prison  was  given 
Sankey 's  place  in  the  Internal  Revenue  service. 

THE    GREAT    FIRE    IN    CHICAGO. 

It  was  during  the  service  at  Moody 's  church  in  Chicago  one 
evening  that  the  great  fire  occurred  which  destroyed  so  much  of 
that  city.  The  church  was  crowded  with  men  and  women  when 
the  warning  rumble  of  the  fire  alarms  compelled  Moody  and 
Sankey  to  bring  the  meeting  to  a  sudden  close.  Moody' s  church 
was  destroyed  that  night  and  some  of  the  people  who  had  attended 
the  meeting  were  burned  to  death  in  various  parts  of  the  city 
before  sunrise  the  next  day  while  trying  to  save  their  homes. 

The  two  evangelists  were  now  without  a  home  in  which  to 
preach.  Moody  took  the  first  train  out  of  Chicago  and  made  a 
hurried  journey  to  Philadelphia,  New  York  and  Washington,  and 
soon  returned  with  sufficient  money  to  enable  his  congregation  to 
rebuild  their  church.  Prior  to  this  time  Moody  had  received 
several  letters  from  ministers  in  Kngland  inviting  him  to  visit 
their  country.  It  had  been  his  desire  to  make  a  tour  of  the  world, 
and  it  occurred  to  him  that  while  his  people  were  rebuilding  the 
church  it  would  be  a  good  time  to  take  the  trip.  This  they 
figured  they  could  do  before  the  work  on  the  new  church  would 
be  completed. 

With  just  enough  money  to  pay  their  passage  to  London, 
Moody  and  Sankey  set  sail  for  the  old  country  in   1873.     The 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  GREAT  EVANGELIST.  37 

This  interfered  with  the  proposed  trip  around  the  world,  bnt 
the  two  evangelists  visited  many  other  countries  while  abroad, 
conducting  successful  meetings  wherever  they  went.  The  opinion 
of  the  Surgeon-General  of  India,  in  regard  to  Mr.  Moody' s  physi- 
cal condition,  was  apparently  correct. 

Mr.  Moody,  generally  accompanied  by  Mr.  Sankey,  subse- 
quently made  frequent  visits  to  England  and  Ireland.  Among 
Mr.  Moody' s  successes  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean  none  was 
more  striking  than  his  conquest  of  prejudice  in  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge. His  first  service  at  Oxford  was  so  disturbed  by  the  noises 
made  by  the  undergraduates  that  there  were  minutes  when  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  proceed.  With  wonderful  tact  and  patience 
he  persisted  till  he  gained  the  good-will  of  his  almost  riotous 
audience.  Before  long  he  had  won  many  hearts,  and  the  impres- 
sion left  upon  numerous  members  of  the  University  promised  to 
be  both  deep  and  lasting.  Like  success  attended  his  visit  to 
Cambridge. 

EVANGELISTIC    CONFERENCES    AT    NORTHFIELD. 

The  influence  exercised  by  Mr.  Moody  was  not  confined  to 
his  personal  labors  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  but  was  felt  in 
many  ways  through  those  sent  out  from  the  three  schools  which 
he  established  in  Northfield,  and  the  one  in  Chicago.  The  gen- 
eral conferences  of  Christian  workers  held  annually  at  Northfield 
under  his  direction  were  also  a  powerful  influence  in  the  work  of 
evangelization.  Widespread  likewise  has  been  the  influence 
exerted  by  the  enormous  edition  of  the  "  Gospel  Hymns,"  issued 
under  the  joint  names  of  Moody  and  Sankey,  which  have  now 
been  sung  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe  for  a  quarter  of  a  century. 

Mr.  Moody  was  a  great  builder.  His  first  building  was  the 
Illinois  Street  Church,  in  Chicago,  erected  about  1858,  for  the 
shelter  of  his  mission  school  and  the  church  which  grew  out  of  it. 
His  second  building  enterprise  was  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  building,  in  Chicago,  erected  in  1866,  the  first  commo- 
dious edifice  for  Y.  M.  C.  A.  purposes  in  this  country.  His  third 
enterprise  was  the  re-erection  of  the  first  Y.  M.  C.  A.  building, 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  GREAT  EVANGELIST.  39 

He  did  not  seek  to  found  a  sect,  but  to  preach  the  Christian 
Gospel  in  the  broadest  sense,  leaving  to  his  hearers  their  own 
choice  of  denomination  when  they  felt  impressed  with  the  necessity 
of  identifying  themselves  with  the  work  of  the  Church. 

In  company  with  Ira  D.  Sankey,  Mr.  Moody  visited  many 
cities  in  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain.  Everywhere  they 
met  with  eventual  success,  although  frequently  they  were  obliged 
to  overcome  obstacles  placed  in  their  path  by  prejudice  against 
evangelism.  While  they  addressed  themselves  chiefly  to  men 
who  were  non-church  members,  thousands  of  Christian  men  and 
women,  affiliated  with  the  various  denominations,  attended  the 
Moody  lectures  and  contributed  to  the  effective  results  of  the 
same.  These  outpourings  of  the  people  were  a  magnificent 
tribute  to  the  zeal  of  Mr.  Moody  for  God's  glory,  and  their  effec- 
tiveness was  demonstrated  by  the  new  life  given  to  the  church 
work  of  the  religious  organizations  everywhere. 

HE    SOLVED    A    HARD    PROBLEM. 

The  problem  of  all  ministers  of  religion  is  how  best  to  reach 
"the  masses,"  the  general  body  of  the  people.  Sermons  delivered 
to  church-goers,  to  the  ready  and  willing  worshipers,  form  a  part 
of  the  Church's  mission,  but  not  the  whole.  The  sheep  that  are 
not  in  the  fold  call  for  the  shepherd's  care.  Mr.  Moody  went  out 
into  the  world,  the  highways  and  byways,  offered  his  hand  to  the 
stranger,  and  brought  him  within  the  influence  of  religious  teach- 
ing. He  encouraged  men  to  be  good  and  to  do  good,  and  showed 
them  that  even  in  a  material  way,  they  that  walk  uprightly  are 
blessed.  Impressive  he  was  and  convincing ;  and  it  was  not  so 
much  his  magnetism  as  his  sincerity  that  drew  hearts  to  him  and 
the  cause  to  which  he  had  consecrated  himself. 

The  world  is  poorer  for  his  going,  but  richer  for  his  life,  and 
thousands  are  blessing  God,  and  will  bless  Him  through  all 
eternity  for  the  message  which  they  heard  from  this  man.  He 
was  plain  and  simple,  almost  homely,  in  his  appearance  and  his 
manner.  There  was  no  great  eloquence  in  his  speech,  as  men 
reckon  eloquence,  nor  majesty  in  his  stature  ;  yet  he  drew  people 


40  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  GREAT  EVANGELIST. 

as  by  a  miracle,  because  lie  was  so  true,  and  because  he  had  a 
message.  It  might  be  said  of  him,  as  was  said  long  ago  of  John 
the  Baptist :  "  He  did  no  miracle,  but  all  things  he  spake  of  Jesus 
were  true." 

The  "summer  schools"  held  in  the  quiet  little  town  of  North- 
field,  have  made  it  famous  all  over  the  world,  and  have  accom- 
plished more  than  can  easily  be  calculated  for  the  growth  of  the 
Christian  religion  at  home  and  abroad. 

Mr.  Moody  never  received  money  for  his  services,  although 
he  accepted  gifts  for  the  work  he  was  carrying  on.  It  is  said  that 
a  friend  cared  for  his  wants,  and  left  him  free  to  preach  and  work 
unhampered  by  the  perplexing  alliances  which  have  often  crippled 
aggressive  workers.  And  so,  fearless,  and  unbound  by  anything 
save  the  bonds  of  his  love  for  his  Master,  he  labored  011  until  the  end. 

RAISED    FROM    HUMBLE   LIFE. 

It  is  a  wonderful  story,  the  life  of  this  farmer's  boy,  this 
mechanic,  this  uneducated,  yet  true  and  inspired  teacher.  Perhaps 
all  the  lessons  can  be  hardly  told  so  soon  after  his  ended  career. 
But  surely  there  are  some  which  are  evident,  and  which  this  age 
certainly  needs  to  learn. 

First,  he  was  strongly  sincere  and  fearless.  His  religion 
meant  everything  to  him,  and  his  faith,  therefore,  was  great.  It 
is  the  "light,  half  believer  of  a  casual  creed,"  as  Arnold  expressed 
it,  who  is  full  of  hesitation  and  trembling,  and  makes  little  head- 
way. Honesty  of  religious  belief  will  always  impress  men. 

Second,  Mr.  Moody  was  direct.  He  had  little  patience  with 
the  sophistry  of  theological  theories  ;  but  he  knew  that  the  world 
was  sinful,  and  that  Christianity  could  help  it,  and  that  consti- 
tuted his  creed  and  was  the  basis  of  his  preaching.  And  we  can 
assure  ministers  to-day  that  while  men  are  careless  of  so  called 
dogma,  and  hate  empty  formalism,  they  will  listen  and  profit  by 
the  old  story  of  help  and  comfort  and  godly  living  taught  by 
Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Others  can  fill  churches  as  well  as  Mr.  Moody 
filled  his  halls,  if  only  they  are  whole-hearted,  and  have  a  simple 
Gospel  message. 


BETSEY    MOODY 

MOTHER  OF  THE  GREAT   EVANGELIST 


PROF.     DANIEL     B.     TOWNER 

THE  CELEBRATED  SINGER   WHO  ASSISTED   MR.   MOODY   IN   MANY   OF  HIS 
EVANGELISTIC  MEETINGS 


1.  NORTH     FARM-HOUSE    WHERE     MOODY     BEGAN     HIS    SEMINARY 

2.  STONE    HALL-CONTAINING    CHAPEL   AND    RECITATION    ROOMS 


PART   II 

MR.  MOODY'S  BRILLIANT  AND 
POWERFUL  DISCOURSES. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 
The   Prodigal    Son. 

K  have  for  our  subject  to-night  one  of  the  two  young  men 
we  have  read  about  in  the  I5th  chapter  of  Luke.  There  is 
not  a  person  in  this  audience  here  to-night  but  who  is  as 
well  acquainted  with  the  I5th  chapter  of  Luke  as  the  preacher. 
Probably  there  is  not  a  prodigal  in  all  this  city  but  that  knows 
the  story  as  contained  in  this  chapter  of  Luke.  It  is  not  necessary 
for  ine  to  tell  you  why  this  young  man  went  away.  It  was  his 
nature.  It  is  natural  for  a  man  to  go  away  from  God.  "All  we 
like  sheep  have  gone  astray  /"  every  one  is  turned  too  easily  away. 

This  prodigal  went  away  without  any  reason  that  we  know  of ; 
we  are  not  told  that  his  father  was  unkind  to  him,  but  I  think, 
however,  that  the  father  made  a  mistake.  I  think  if  I  had  a  son 
that  wanted  me  to  divide  up  my  property  and  let  him  have  the 
share  that  was  coming  to  him,  I  should  make  a  great  mistake  to 
give  him  the  money.  A  great  many  people  are  making  that  mis- 
take to-day,  and  if  there  is  one  person  in  this  world  to  be  pitied 
more  than  another,  it  is  the  man  who  has  all  the  money  that  he 
wants  to  spend  and  nothing  to  do.  When  that  young  man  came 
to  his  father  and  wanted  him  to  let  him  have  his  portion,  his  father 
had  better  have  said,  "  No,  you  had  better  wait  until  your  father 
has  gone."  When  the  prodigal  son  got  that  which  was  coming  to 
him,  it  says  he  gathered  his  goods  all  together  and  took  his  journey 
into  a  far  country. 

14  209 


210  THE  PRODIGAL  SON. 

Well,  lie  was  considered  popular  in  that  distant  country — most 
men  who  have  plenty  of  money  and  nothing  to  do  are  very  popular; 
but  how  long  his  popularity  lasted  we  are  not  told,  because  we  do 
not  know  just  how  long  his  money  held  out.  But  his  friends 
gathered  round  him  ;  he  had  a  good  many  friends  until  his  money 
was  gone,  and  then  the  poor  man  woke  up  to  the  fact  that  all  those 
he  called  his  friends  had  been  after  his  money  and  not  him  ;  they 
were  friends  to  his  money,  not  to  him.  And  when  he  had  spent  all, 
at  last  he  came  to  want. 

Did  you  ever  stop  to  think  how  many  prodigals  there  are  in  a 
city  like  New  York  ?  Suppose  that  we  had  them  all  here  to-night, 
and  that  we  could  bring  them  up  here  and  let  them  pass  in  front  of 
this  audience,  it  would  take  a  long,  long  time — -tramp,  tramp,  tramp 
— before  this  assembled  audience.  New  York  is  full  of  prodigals. 
They  have  not  only  left  their  earthly  parents,  they  have  sent  many 
of  those  parents  to  an  untimely  grave.  And  how  many  have 
turned  their  backs  upon  God  and  have  wandered  away ! 

AS  FAR  AS  POSSIBLE  FROM  HOME. 

I  do  not  know  where  the  prodigal  son  in  this  story  went  to, 
perhaps  to  Egypt ;  perhaps  he  went  to  Memphis — that  was  one  of 
the  magnificent  cities  in  those  days — but  he  got  as  far  away  as  he 
could  from  home.  Perhaps  he  wanted  to  get  away  from  home  re- 
straint and  home  influences  ;  perhaps  he  talked  as  many  young  men 
do  now,  in  a  laughing  way,  saying  he  was  only  "  sowing  his  wild 
oats."  It  makes  my  heart  sad  when  I  hear  young  men  use  that 
expression.  A  great  many  young  men  seem  to  forget  that  they 
have  to  reap  what  they  sow  tenfold.  If  a  man  sows  a  handful,  he 
reaps  a  bushel ;  if  a  man  sows  the  wind  he  reaps  the  whirlwind ;  it 
is  only  a  question  of  time ;  he  will  surely  come  to  want  some  day. 

All  these  earthly  streams  become  dry  some  day ;  he  will  surely 
come  to  want.  We  read  that  when  this  prodigal's  money  was  all 
gone,  a  famine  struck  that  land  and  there  he  was  alone,  in  a  strange 
country  in  great  want.  All  his  friends  were  gone  now ;  he  had  lost 
every  one  of  them ;  he  thought  he  had  a  good  many  friends,  but 
they  were  now  all  gone.  If  they  had  had  pawnshops  in  those  da^s, 


THE  PRODIGAL  SON.  211 

you  would  have  seen  him  hanging  round  a  pawnshop  pawning  what 
he  had  left.  The  rings  he  wore  away  from  home  are  gone ;  perhaps 
he  has  worn  out  his  shoes  and  has  not  got  them  to  pawn ;  there  he 
is  stripped. 

But  he  did  not  go  and  beg,  like  a  great  many  men  in  these 
days.  For  that  one  thing  I  have  respect  for  the  prodigal,  because 
he  did  go  to  work.  It  was  a  very  humble  occupation,  to  be  sure, 
but  if  he  could  not  get  what  he  wanted  he  was  willing  to  do  most 
anything  rather  than  to  beg ;  and  there  is  no  meaner  occupation 
possible  to  a  Jew  than  to  feed  swine,  but  he  was  willing  to  do  that.  If 
a  great  many  of  those  people  who  are  now  called  tramps  would  go 
to  work  we  would  all  have  sympathy  for  them. 

DIDN'T  BECOME  A  TRAMP  AND  BEG. 

The  prodigal  got  down  very  low,  but  he  did  not  get  down  low 
enough  to  beg  ;  he  went  to  work  ;  his  work  was  very  mean  ;  he  could 
not  have  been  in  a  meaner  occupation  than  feeding  those  swine. 
When  the  backslider  goes  away  from  God  he  looses  all  the  blessing 
of  his  work,  and  the  prodigal  lost  all  his.  He  had  no  home.  A 
man  who  is  away  from  God  has  got  no  home ;  he  has  turned  his 
back  upon  his  home,  and  there  was  no  home  for  him  there  among 
strangers.  If  the  strangers  had  attempted  to  give  him  a  home,  it 
would  not  have  been  home  to  him,  but  they  did  not. 

There  he  was  among  strangers,  coatless,  shoeless,  hatless ; 
some  of  the  young  men  in  that  country  came  along,  some  of  the 
very  friends  perhaps  that  had  got  his  money  away  from  him — for 
men  gambled  in  those  days  as  they  do  now — and  they  probably 
said,  "  Look  at  that  fool ;  he  came  down  here  with  $20,000  only  two 
or  three  years  ago,  and  now  it  is  all  squandered."  Those  very  men 
who  had  got  his  money  away  fron  him  began  to  make  sport  of  him 
now.  I  think  I  can  see  him  straightening  himself  up  and  saying 
to  them,  "  You  call  me  a  beggar !  Why,  my  father's  servants  dress 
better  than  you  do  !  "  And  they  laughed  and  said,  "  Your  father's 
servants — why,  you  have  not  got  any  father."  No  one  believed  him  ; 
he  had  lost  his  testimony. 

And  just  so  has  every  backslider  from  God  lost  his  testimony. 


214  THE   PRODIGAL  SON. 

thousands  to  say  that  word  to-night,  "I  will  arise  and  go  to  my 
Father."  Nine-tenths  of  the  battle  was  won  when  he  said,  "  I 
will  arise  and  go  to  my  father."  He  may  be  in  a  far  country,  but 
he  will  soon  get  home  if  he  has  made  up  his  mind  to  come.  And 
he  made  up  a  sort  of  a  sermon  he  was  going  to  preach  when  he 
got  home.  The  first  thing  he  was  going  to  do  was  to  confess.  "I 
will  confess  that  I  have  sinned  against  heaven.  I  will  confess 
that  I  have  done  wrong,  and  I  will  ask  if  he  will  let  me  be  as 
one  of  his  servants." 

THE  BELLS  OF  HEAVEN  RING. 

Ah,  he  didn't  know  his  father's  heart;  if  he  had  he  wouldn't 
have  asked  the  rest.  He  says,  "I  will  just  ask  my  father  to  let 
me  be  as  one  of  his  servants."  But  now  he  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  go  home,  and  he  starts.  He  goes  to  the  citizen  of  that 
country  and  he  says,  "I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  go  home,  and 
I  can't  work  for  you  any  longer.  My  father  is  well  off,  and  I  am 
sure  my  father  will  receive  me  back."  The  citizen  don't  care 
anything  about  him,  but  there  is  a  living  heart  there  at  home, 
and  he  starts.  I  see  him  on  his  way,  and  there  is  joy  up  there 
now;  they  ring  the  bells  of  heaven.  I  see  the  guardian  angel 
that  watches  over  him,  and  the  moment  he  came  to  himself  then 
there  was  joy  on  high. 

Then  the  prodigal  is  out  on  his  way — see  him!  I  can  just 
imagine  his  feelings  as  he  came  over  the  border  of  his  native 
land — "It  may  be  father  has  died;  may  be  he  is  dead?  If  he  is, 
may  be  I  may  not  get  a  warm  welcome."  It  was  a  good  thing 
for  the  prodigal  that  his  father  was  alive,  wasn't  it  ?  He  wouldn't 
have  received  a  very  warm  welcome  from  that  brother  of  his. 
Ah,  young  man,  you  had  better  make  the  most  of  that  experience 
and  get  home  before  that  old  father  dies,  unless  you  have  got  a 
godly,  praying  mother.  Go  down  to  your  houses  to-night  and 
write  a  letter  to  your  mother  or  your  father  and  ask  them  to  for- 
give you !  Ask  your  father  in  Heaven  to  forgive  you. 

But  now  see  him  as  he  going  along  toward  home,  wondering 
if  that  father  is  alive  waiting  for  him.  There  is  the  old  man  out 


THE  PRODIGAL  SON.  215 

on  the  flat  roof.  Many  a  time  he  has  been  there  before.  Many  a 
time  his  eye  has  been  looking  in  the  direction  where  his  boy  went. 
He  cannot  tell  him  by  anything  he  has  on;  but  love  is  keen.  He 
saw  his  boy  afar  off;  that  was  his  long-lost  boy.  He  starts  out 
after  him.  You  can  see  his  long  white  hair  floating  through  the 
air;  he  leaps  over  the  highway;  the  spirit  of  youth  has  come 
upon  him.  The  servants  look  at  him  leaping  over  the  highway, 
and  they  wonder  what  has  come  over  him.  It  is  the  only  time 
God  is  represented  as  running,  just  to  meet  a  poor  sinner.  God 
walks.  When  those  children  of  Israel  were  thrust  in  that  fiery 
furnace,  we  find  that  God  walked  in  that  furnace. 

A  STORY  OF  DIVINE  COMPASSION. 

The  whole  story  of  that  prodigal  is  just  written  to  bring  out 
God's  love,  or  the  compassion  of  God.  "And  when  he  saw  him 
a  great  way  off  he  had  compassion  on  him."  He  did  not  wait  for 
him  to  come.  He  did  not  say,  "He  went  away  without  cause,  I 
will  not  go  to  meet  him."  And  when  he  meets  him,  he  falls  upon 
his  neck,  and  he  weeps  over  him ;  and  the  servants  come  running 
out  to  see  what  is  the  matter.  And  the  boy  begins  to  make  his 
speech  :  "Father,  I  have  sinned  against  Heaven  and  in  thy  sight, 
and  am  no  more  worthy  to  be  called  thy  son!"  And  just  as  he 
was  going  to  say,  "make  me  as  one  of  thy  hired  servants,"  the 
father  interrupts  him  and  he  says  to  one  servant,  "Go  bring  the 
best  robe  and  put  it  on  him;"  and  to  another,  "Go  to  my  jewel- 
box  and  get  a  ring  and  put  it  on  his  finger;"  and  to  another  one, 
"Go  and  get  the  shoes  ;"  and  to  another,  "  Go  and  kill  the  fatted 
calf."  And  there  was  joy  there.  What  joy  there  was  in  that 
home!  "He  had  compassion  on  him." 

My  friend,  don't  you  know  that  since  then  that  story  has 
been  repeated  nearly  every  day — prodigals  going  back — and  I 
never  yet  heard  of  any  man  going  back  that  did  not  get  a  warm 
welcome.  There  isn't  a  poor  prodigal  in  this  city  but  that  if  he 
will  go  back  to  his  father,  will  receive  a  warm  welcome.  But  that 
isn't  the  lesson  we  want  to  teach.  It  is  not  only  to  be  reconciled 
to  your  earthly  father,  but  my  friends,  to  your  Heavenly  Father, 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

God  is  Love. 

<T  WANT  to  take  for  our  subject  to-night  what  Christ  is  to  us, 
X     and  when  I  get  through,  and  any  one  of  our  friends  says  he  is 

not  convinced,  it  will  be  because  you  don't  want  to  be  convinced, 
and  will  not  have  Him.  He  will  be  all  that  I  make  Him  out  to  be, 
and  a  thousand  times  more.  No  man  living  could  tell  about  His 
great  love  and  great  necessity  to  us  in  an  hour ;  nay,  he  could  not 
tell  it  in  twenty-four  hours.  It  is  beyond  thought  and  beyond  ex- 
pression to  tell  what  Christ  is  to  us — that  is,  if  we  have  believed  on 
Him  and  been  redeemed  by  Him. 

I  remember  speaking  upon  this  subject  some  time  ago  in 
Europe,  and  when  I  got  through  and  was  going  home,  I  said  to  a 
Scotch  friend  of  mine,  who  was  in  my  company,  that  I  was  very 
much  disappointed  ;  that  I  did  not  get  through  with  the  subject. 
He  looked  at  me  in  astonishment,  and  said,  "  My  friend,  what !  did 
ye  expect  to  tell  what  Christ  is  in  half  an  hour  ?  Ye  need  never 
expect  to  tell  it  in  all  eternity  ;  you  would  never  get  through  with 
it."  I  have  thought  of  it  often  since.  Take  eternity !  Yes,  I 
know  it  would. 

Well,  right  here  I  want  to  ask  you  whether  Christ  is  worth 
having  ?  I  imagine  that  some  of  you  will  say  that  that  is  a  strange 
question — a  man  to  get  up  and  ask  that.  Well,  perhaps  it  is;  but 
it  does  seem  to  me  that  a  great  many  men  do  think  that  Christ  is 
not  worth  having.  If  they  do  really  want  Him  let  them  take  Him. 
He  was  God's  greatest  gift  to  the  world.  He  is  there  for  you  and 
for  me  to  partake  of.  Just  let  me  ask  that  question  again,  Do  you 
think  the  Son  of  God  worth  having  ?  Oh,  that  God  may  open  the 
eyes  of  every  lost  soul  here  to-night  to  see  Christ  here  right  in  the 
midst  of  them.  Oh,  that  you  may  worship  Him  in  spirit  and  in 
truth,  view  him  as  the  chief  among  thousands,  the  One  altogether 
lovely.  Christ  wants  to  be  a  Saviour  to  every  one  of  us. 

219 


220  GOD  IS  LOVE. 

In  the  second  chapter  of  Luke  and  the  tenth  verse  we  read 
that  a  Saviour  has  been  given  us  :  "  Behold,  I  bring  you  good  tidings 
of  great  joy,  which  shall  be  to  all  people  ;  for  unto  you  is  born  this 
day,  in  the  City  of  David,  a  Saviour,  which  is  Christ  the  Lord." 
And  if  we  know  he  is  our  Lord  and  truth  and  wisdom  and  life,  we 
must  first  know  Him  as  our  Saviour.  You  must  first  meet  Him  at 
Calvary — first  see  Him  on  the  cross.  There  is  no  life  in  us  except 
we  come  to  Calvary — no  life  until  we  come  to  that  mountain.  Now, 
I  don't  want  you  to  think  I  mean  to  ask  you  to  trust  in  the  form. 
Many,  yea  thousands,  make  that  great  mistake.  We  are  not  tak- 
ing Him  as  a  personal  Saviour  ;  we  don't  try  to  know  Him  as  our 
own.  This  is  a  great  mistake,  and  it  is  a  common  mistake. 

DELIVERANCE    FROM  ALL  EVIL. 

During  the  last  few  years  I  was  not  occupied  with  the  person 
of  Christ ;  it  was  more  about  the  doctrine  and  about  the  form. 
But  lately  Christ  is  more  to  me  personally.  And  it  would  be  a 
great  help  to  you  to  cultivate  His  acquaintance  personally,  and 
come  to  Him  as  the  personal  Saviour,  and  be  able  to  take  Him  and 
look  up  to  Him  and  say,  "  He  is  my  Saviour."  I  don't  know  how 
many  times  I  have  heard  men  say  during  the  past  few  weeks,  "  I 
would  come  to  Him  and  love  Him,  but  I  don't  think  I  could  hold 
out."  But  I  tell  you,  He  is  not  only  a  Saviour,  but  a  Deliverer. 
He  can  deliver  us  from  the  power  of  sin.  He  can  deliver  us  from 
Satan.  There  is  not  a  guilt,  crime,  trouble  or  trial  but  that  if  we 
go  to  the  Son  of  God  He  is  able  to  deliver  us  from  it. 

Bear  in  mind  that  we  are  the  lawful  captives  of  sin.  If  a  man 
has  committed  a  sin,  Satan  has  a  power  over  him  and  a  claim  upon 
him  and  holds  him  as  his  lawful  prey.  But  saith  the  Lord,  "  Even 
the  captives  of  the  mighty  shall  be  taken  away."  And  He  saith 
further  that  He  will  contend  for  thee  and  take  thee  from  those  that 
hold  thee  captive.  Thanks  be  to  God,  we  can  go  to  Him  with  con- 
fidence, and  have  Him  deliver  us  from  the  power  of  our  besetting 
sin.  If  there  be  a  man  here  who  is  the  slave  of  strong  drink,  I 
bring  him  good  news  !  God  is  able  to  deliver  you  from  that  which 
has  gained  the  mastery  over  you. 


GOD  IS  LOVE.  225 

from  this  hour,  until  He  presents  you  before  the  throne  without  spot 
and  without  blemish.  Don't  tell  me  He  doesn't  have  the  power  to 
keep  you.  He  has.  That  is  what  Christ  came  into  the  world  for, 
to  keep  sinners.  Some  men  have  an  idea  when  they  get  converted 
that  they  have  got  to  keep  Christ  and  themselves,  too.  It  is  all 
wrong. 

LITTLE  GIRL  AND  HER  MUFF. 

I  remember  one  time  my  little  girl  was  teasing  her  mother  to 
get  her  a  muff,  and  so  one  day  her  mother  brought  a  muff  home, 
and,  although  it  was  storming,  she  very  naturally  wanted  to  go  out 
in  order  to  try  her  new  muff.  So  she  tried  to  get  me  to  go  out  with 
her.  I  went  out  with  her,  and  I  said,  "  Hmma,  better  let  me  take 
your  hand."  She  wanted  to  keep  her  hands  in  her  muff,  and  so 
she  refused  to  take  my  hand.  Well,  by  and  by  she  came  to  an 
icy  place,  her  little  feet  slipped,  and  down  she  went.  When  I 
helped  her  up  she  said,  "  Papa,  you  may  give  me  your  little  finger." 
"  No,  my  daughter,  just  take  my  hand."  u  No,  no,  papa,  give  me 
your  little  finger."  Well,  I  gave  my  finger  to  her,  and  for  a  little 
way  she  got  along  nicely,  but  pretty  soon  we  came  to  another  icy 
place,  and  again  she  fell.  This  time  she  hurt  herself  a  little,  and 
she  said,  "  Papa,  give  me  your  hand,"  and  I  gave  her  my  hand,  and 
closed  my  fingers  about  her  wrist,  and  held  her  up  so  that  she  could 
not  fall. 

Just  so  God  is  our  keeper.  He  is  wiser  than  we.  Run  to  your 
Elder  Brother  for  aid.  Is  there  a  man  here  to  whom  a  saloon  is  a 
temptation  ?  Who  can't  go  by  a  saloon  without  wanting  to  go  in  ? 
Just  let  him  throw  himself  upon  the  Lord.  Say,  "  Lord  Jesus, 
keep  me." 

There  are  thousands  and  millions  around  the  throne  of  God 
to-night.  Yes,  God  gave  them  grace,  and  overcame  all  things  for 
them.  Thank  God,  oh,  thank  God  for  that.  When  I  was  in 
England  I  had  a  great  curiosity  to  visit  the  Zoological  Gardens, 
because  of  a  story  I  heard  concerning  them.  There  was  a  man 
who  had  a  little  dog  which  he  had  trained  to  run.  So  one  day  he 
made  a  bet  about  his  dog's  running,  but  when  the  time  came  for  the 

15 


CHAPTER   XV. 

Christ's  Mission  to  the  World. 

OU  will  find  my  text  this  evening  in  the  igih  chapter  of  the 
Gospel  according  to  St.  Luke,  and  part  of  the  loth  verse : 

•  "For  the  Son  of  man  zs  come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was 
lost"  In  this  little  short  verse  the  whole  mission  of  Christ  is  told. 
He  came  for  a  purpose,  He  came  to  do  a  work,  and  we  get  the  in- 
formation of  what  He  came  to  do  in  this  verse — he  came  to  save 
sinners — to  save  the  lost.  If  you  will  look  in  your  Bibles  care- 
fully you  will  find  that  every  man  that  God  sent  before  Christ 
had  a  work  to  do,  and  he  always  succeeded,  and  do  you  think  that 
God  will  send  His  Son  to  do  work  on  earth  and  not  give  Him 
power  and  strength  to  do  that  work  ?  He  sent  His  Son  here  to 
save  sinners,  and  He  did  give  Him  the  power  to  accomplish  that 
work. 

Do  you  think  that  Christ,  who  voluntarily  came  into  the 
world  to  save  sinners,  is  not  willing  to  receive  all  that  come  to 
Him — not  willing  to  save  them?  Now  let  us  take  up  this  verse 
and  look  at  it  on  every  side,  and  look  around  it,  and  see  how  it 
was  that  He  uttered  these  words.  In  the  last  part  of  the  i8th 
chapter,  that  I  read  this  evening,  we  find  Christ  coming  near  to 
the  City  of  Jericho.  A  man  who  had  come  down  to  Jerusalem 
had  met  a  poor  blind  beggar  sitting  by  the  wayside.  The  beggar 
had  probably  asked  him  for  something — some  money.  But  the 
stranger  said  to  him,  "I  have  got  something  more  precious  than 
silver  or  gold;  you  may  get  back  your  sight."  "Oh,"  says  Bar- 
timeus,  "that  cannot  be;  there  is  no  chance  for  me.  I  have  not 
got  eye-balls,  even.  I  was  born  blind;  never  saw  the  mother  that 
gave  me  birth;  never  saw  the  wife  that  leaned  on  my  breast; 
never  saw  my  offspring;  never  saw  my  friends  or  neighbors  or 
the  light  of  heaven.."  "But,"  says  the  stranger,  "it  is  yet  true; 
for  I  have  come  down  from  Jerusalem,  and  I  saw  there  a  man  who 

227 


230  CHRIST'S   MISSION   TO  THE  WORLD. 

You  can  all  take  in  the  joy  of  that  moment  that  had  arrived  to 
this  poor  man.  When  he  gets  to  the  city  he  leaves  the  crowd,  and 
says  he  will  just  step  round  and  see  his  wife.  He  had  never  seen 
her  before,  and  wanted  to  find  out  what  sort  of  a  wife  he  had.  He 
also  wanted  to  see  his  children.  Well,  as  he  goes  on  his  way  a  man 
meets  him  and  looks  at  him  in  astonishment.  "  What,  who  is  this  ? 
Is  your  name  Bartimeus  ?  "  "  Yes,"  says  Bartimeus,  "  it  is  I." 
"  Why,"  says  his  fellow-citizen,  "  how's  this  ?  I  thought  you  were 
blind."  "  Yes,"  says  Bartimeus,  "  I  was  blind,  but  I  just  met  Jesus 
outside  the  city,  and  He  has  given  me  my  sight." 

HE  CAME   DOWN  INSTANTLY. 

Another  man  also  heard  of  Jesus,  and  another  convert  was 
made — Zaccheus.  And  just  here  I  want  to  put  this  picture  before 
the  minds  of  those  who  don't  believe  in  sudden  conversions.  This 
Zaccheus  had  gone  up  among  the  branches  and  the  leaves  of  a 
sycamore  tree,  but  as  Jesus  passed  under  He  saw  the  man,  and  said 
at  once  to  him,  u  Zaccheus,  come  down,"  and  the  eye  and  the  voice 
of  the  Son  of  God  flashed  life  into  the  soul  of  Zaccheus.  He  told 
Zaccheus  that  that  was  the  last  time  he  should  pass  that  way  ;  and, 
sinner,  when  God  calls  upon  you  it  may  be  the  last  time  you  will 
ever  hear  his  voice.  But  Zaccheus  heard  the  voice  and  obeyed  it, 
and  he  was  not  scared  into  obeying  it,  either.  Some  persons  at  the 
present  day  would  rather  be  scared  into  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven 
than  any  other  way.  But  that  is  not  the  way  that  Jesus  did. 

Some  of  these  professed  Christians  talk  against  sudden  conver- 
sions ;  but  how  long  did  it  take  the  Lord  to  convert  Zaccheus  ? 
He  must  have  been  converted  getting  down.  It  was  right  in  the 
air,  between  the  branches  and  the  ground.  You  see  those  people 
who  say,  "  I  don't  believe  these  are  genuine  conversions."  Ah,  I 
wish  we  could  have  a  few  more  conversions  like  Zaccheus.  Zaccheus 
gave  one-half  of  his  goods  to  the  poor.  Do  you  think  you  could 
make  a  poor  man  in  Jericho  believe  that  conversion  not  genuine  ? 
If  we  could  have  a  few  more  conversions  like  that  here,  do  you  think ' 
you  could  make  the  poor  people  in  this  city  believe  that  that  conver- 
sion wasn't  genuine  ? 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

The  Victory  of  Faith. 

^TWENTIETH  verse  of  the  fifth  chapter  of  Luke:  "When  he 
\®)  saw  their  faith."  A  little  while  before  this  Christ  had  been 
driven  out  of  Nazareth,  in  his  native  town,  and  had  come 
down  to  Capernaum  to  live,  and  He  had  begun  His  ministry,  and 
some-  mighty  miracles  had  already  been  wrought  in  Capernaum. 
A  little  while  before  this,  one  of  the  officers  in  King  Herod's  army 
had  a  son  who  had  been  restored.  Peter's  wife's  mother,  that  lay 
sick  with  the  fever,  had  been  healed,  and  Mark  tells  us  that  the 
whole  city  was  moved,  that  they  had  come  to  the  door  of  the  house 
where  He  was  sitting,  the  whole  city  bringing  their  sick. 

In  fact,  there  was  a  great  revival  in  Capernaum.  That  is 
what  it  was,  and  it  is  all  it  was.  The  news  was  spreading  far  and 
near.  Everybody  coming  out  of  Capernaum  was  taking  out 
tidings  of  what  this  mighty  preacher  was  doing,  and  His  mighty 
miracles,  and  the  sayings  that  were  constantly  falling  from  His 
lips.  And  we  read  in  a  few  verses  before  this  aoth  verse,  that  a 
man  full  of  leprosy  had  come  to  Him  and  said:  "Lord,  if  Thou 
canst,  make  me  clean,"  and  I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  the 
difference  between  a  man  that  had  the  palsy  and  the  man  that  had 
the  leprosy. 

The  man  with  the  palsy  had  friends  who  had  faith.  The  man 
who  had  the  leprosy  had  no  friends  who  believed  he  could  be 
cleansed.  There  had  been  no  leper  cleansed  for  800  years,  and 
we  read  back  in  the  days  of  Elisha  that  there  was  a  leper  that 
was  cleansed,  but  none  since  that  time  until  now.  Here  is  a  leper 
that  has  faith  and  goes  right  straight  to  the  Son  of  God  Himself; 
and  I  want  to  say  if  there  is  a  poor  sinner  here  to-night  that  has 
not  got  any  friends  that  would  pray  for  him,  you  can  go  right 
straight  to  Jesus  Himself.  You  don't  need  any  Bishop  or  priest 

235 


242  THE  VICTORY  OF  FAITH. 

us  go  and  bring  our  unconverted  friends  here.  All  through  the 
services  let  us  be  lifting  up  our  hearts  in  prayer.  God  save  our 
friend !  O  God,  convert  him  !  And  in  answer  to  our  prayer  the 
Lord  will  save  them. 

While  in  London  there  was  a  man  away  off  in  India — a 
godly  father — who  had  a  son  in  London,  and  he  got  a  furlough 
and  came  clear  from  India  to  London  to  see  after  his  boy's  spiritual 
welfare.  Do  you  think  God  let  that  man  come  thus  far  without 
honoring  that  faith  ?  No.  He  converted  that  son,  and  that  is  the 
kind  we  want — where  faith  and  works  go  together ;  and  if  we  have 
faith  God  will  honor  it  and  answer  our  prayer.  Only  a  few  years 
ago  in  the  City  of  Philadelphia  there  was  a  mother  that  had  two 
sons.  They  were  just  going  as  fast  as  they  could  to  ruin.  They 
were  breaking  her  heart,  and  she  went  into  a  little  prayer-meeting 
and  got  up  and  presented  them  for  prayer.  They  had  been  on  a 
drunken  spree  or  had  j  ust  started  in  that  way,  and  she  knew  that 
their  end  would  be  a  drunkard's  grave,  and  she  went  among  these 
Christians  and  said,  "  Won't  you  just  cry  to  God  for  my  two  boys?" 

HAPPIEST  HOME  IN  THE  CITY. 

The  next  morning  those  two  boys  had  made  an  appointment 
to  meet  each  other  on  the  corner  of  Market  and  Thirteenth  Streets 
— though  not  that  they  knew  anything  about  our  meeting — and 
while  one  of  them  was  there  at  the  corner,  waiting  for  his  brother 
to  come,  he  followed  the  people  who  were  flooding  into  the  depot 
building,  and  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  met  him,  and  he  was  wounded 
and  found  his  way  to  Christ.  After  his  brother  came,  he  found  the 
place  too  crowded  to  enter ;  so  he,  too,  went  curiously  into  another 
meeting  and  found  Christ,  and  went  home  happy  ;  and  when  he  got 
home,  he  told  his  mother  what  the  Lord  had  done  for  him ;  and  the 
second  son  came  with  the  same  tidings. 

I  heard  one  get  up  afterward  to  tell  his  experience  in  the 
young  converts'  meeting  ;  and  he  had  no  sooner  told  the  story  than 
the  other  got  up  and  said :  "  I  am  that  brother,  and  there  is  not  a 
happier  home  in  Philadelphia  than  w*3  have  got ;"  and  they  went 
out,  bringing  their  friends  to  Christ. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Courage  and  Enthusiasm. 

T  SHALL-  take  for  my  subject  to-night  only  two  words,  Courage 
X  and  Enthusiasm — necessary  qualifications  for  successful  work 
in  the  Lord's  service.  In  this  chapter,  Josh,  i.,  I  read  to-night 
four  different  times  God  tells  Joshua  to  be  of  good  courage,  and  He 
says  that  if  he  was  of  good  courage  no  man  should  be  able  to  stand 
before  him  all  the  days  of  his  life.  And  we  read  that  in  the  even- 
ing of  his  life  he  was  successful,  and  that  no  man  was  able  to  stand 
before  him  all  his  days.  God  fulfilled  His  promise.  God  kept 
His  word.  But  see  how  careful  God  is  to  instruct  him  on  this  one 
point.  Four  times  in  one  chapter  he  says  to  him,  "Be  of  good 
courage,  and  then  you  shall  prosper ;  then  you  shall  have  good 


success." 


And  I  have  yet  to  find  that  God  ever  uses  a  man  that  is  all  the 
time  looking  on  the  dark  side,  and  is  all  the  time  talking  about  the 
obstacles  and  looking  at  them,  and  is  discouraged  and  cast  down. 
It  is  not  these  Christians  that  go  around  with  their  head  down  like 
a  bulrush,  looking  at  the  obstacles  and  talking  about  the  darkness 
all  the  time,  that  God  uses.  They  kill  everything  they  touch. 
There  is  no  life  in  them.  Now  if  we  are  going  to  succeed  we  have 
got  to  be  of  good  courage,  and  the  moment  we  get  our  eyes  on  God 
and  remember  who  He  is,  and  that  He  has  all  power  in  heaven 
and  earth,  and  that  it  is  God  who  commands  us  to  work  in  His 
vineyard,  then  it  is  that  we  will  have  courage  given  us. 

Now  if  you  just  take  your  Bibles  and  look  carefully  through 
them  you  will  see  the  men  that  have  left  their  mark  behind  them ; 
the  men  that  have  been  successful  in  winning  souls  to  Christ  have 
all  been  men  of  that  stamp.  You  will  notice  that  when  Moses  com- 
menced, after  he  had  been  among  the  Egyptians  forty  years,  he 
thought  the  time  had  come  for  him  to  commence  his  work  of  deliv- 
ering the  captives,  and  he  went  out,  and  the  first  thing  we  hear  is 

245 


246  COURAGE  AND  ENTHUSIASM. 

that  lie  was  looking  this  way  and  that  way  to  see  if  somebody 
called  him. 

He  was  not  fit  for  God's  work.  God  had  to  take  him  on  the 
back  side  of  the  desert  for  forty  years,  and  then  God  was  ready  to 
send  him,  and  Moses  then  looked  but  one  way.  And  He  sent  him 
down  into  Bgypt,  and  he  had  courage  and  God  could  use  him.  But 
it  took  him  forty  years  to  learn  that  lesson,  that  he  must  have 
courage  and  boldness  to  be  a  fit  vessel  for  the  Master's  use. 

THE  PROPHET  OF  MOUNT  CARMEL. 

Again  we  find  Elijah  on  Mount  Carmel,  full  of  boldness. 
How  the  Lord  used  him !  How  the  Lord  stood  by  him  !  How  the 
Lord  blessed  him !  But  when  he  got  his  eyes  off  the  way,  and 
Jezebel  sent  a  message  to  him  that  she  would  have  his  life,  he  got 
afraid.  He  was  not  afraid  of  Ahab  and  the  whole  royalty,  and  he 
was  not  afraid  of  the  whole  nation.  He  stood  on  Mount  Carmel 
alone,  and  see  what  courage  he  had  and  admiration.  But  what 
came  over  him  I  don't  know,  unless  it  was  that  he  got  his  eyes  off 
the  Lord,  and  when  one  woman  gave  him  that  message  he  got 
frightened,  and  God  had  to  go  to  him  and  ask  him  what  he  was 
doing ;  and  he  was  not  fit  for  God's  communion. 

That,  I  think,  is  the  trouble  with  a  good  many  of  God's  people. 
We  get  frightened,  and  are  afraid  to  speak  to  men  about  their  souls. 
We  lack  moral  courage,  and  if  we  hear  the  voice  of  God  speaking 
to  us  and  saying,  "  Run  and  speak  to  that  young  man,"  we  will  go 
to  him  meaning  to  do  it,  and  will  really  talk  to  him  about  everything 
else,  and  dare  not  about  his  soul.  When  we  begin  to  invite  them 
to  Christ  is  when  the  work  begins,  and  it  won't  begin  until  we  have 
the  courage  given  us  and  are  ready  to  go  and  speak  with  them 
about  their  souls.  We  read  that  when  the  apostles  were  brought 
before  the  council  they  perceived  their  boldness,  and  it  made  an 
impression  on  the  council.  The  Lord  could  use  them  then,  because 
they  were  fearless  and  bold. 

Look  at  Peter  on  Pentecost,  when  he  charged  the  murder  of 
the  Son  of  God  upon  the  Jews.  A  little  while  before  he  had  got 
out  of  communion,  and  one  little  maid  had  scared  him  nearly  out 


COURAGE  AND  ENTHUSIASM.  253 

or  if  not  an  hour  five  minutes.     If  you  have  not  strength  to  do 
anything  personally,  you  can  pray  for  this  work. 

Now,  it  is  a  good  deal  better  to  do  that  than  it  is  to  stand  off 
criticising.  Some  will  say,  "  O,  I  heard  my  grandfather  say  how 
such  things  should  be  done.  This  is  not  managed  right  to  be  suc- 
cessful." And  they  stand  off  and  criticise  and  find  fault,  and  we 
will  never  succed  as  long  as  they  do  this.  All  should  work  and  ask 
God's  guidance. 

THE  FIREMAN  AND    CHILD. 

Once,  when  a  great  fire  broke  out  at  midnight  and  people 
thought  that  all  the  inmates  had  been  taken  out,  way  up  there  in 
the  fifth  story,  was  seen  a  little  child,  crying  for  help.  Up  went 
a  ladder,  and  soon  a  fireman  was  seen  ascending  to  the  spot.  As 
he  neared  the  second  story  the  flames  burst  in  fury  from  the 
windows,  and  the  multitude  almost  despaired  of  the  rescue  of  the 
child.  The  brave  man  faltered,  and  a  comrade  at  the  bottom  cried 
out,  "Cheer!"  and  cheer  upon  cheer  arose  from  the  crowd.  Up 
the  ladder  he  went  and  saved  the  child,  because  they  cheered  him. 
If  you  cannot  go  into  the  heat  of  the  battle  yourself,  if  you  cannot 
go  into  the  harvest  field  and  work  day  after  day,  you  can  cheer 
those  that  are  working  for  the  Master. 

I  see  many  old  people  in  their  old  days,  get  crusty  and  sour, 
and  they  discourage  every  one  they  meet  by  their  fault-finding. 
That  is  not  what  we  want.  If  we  make  a  mistake  come  and  tell 
us  of  it,  and  we  will  thank  you.  You  don't  know  how  much  you 
may  do  by  just  speaking  kindly  to  those  that  are  willing  to  work. 
I  remember  when  I  was  a  boy  I  went  several  miles  from  home 
with  an  older  brother.  That  seemed  to  me  the  longest  visit  of  my 
life.  It  seemed  that  I  was  then  further  away  from  home  than  I 
had  ever  been  before,  or  have  ever  been  since. 

While  we  were  walking  down  the  street  we  saw  an  old  man 
coming  toward  us,  and  my  brother  said,  "There  is  a  man  that  will 
give  you  a  cent.  He  gives  every  new  boy  that  comes  into  this 
town  a  cent."  That  was  my  first  visit  to  the  town,  and  when  the 
old  man  got  opposite  to  us  he  looked  around,  and  my  brother  not 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Confessing  Christ. 

AST  night  I  spoke  to  you  about  believing.  I  want  to  follow 
that  subject  to-night  with  another  subject  as  important,  and 
that  is  Confession  of  Christ ;  not  confessing  sin,  that  is  not 
what  I  want  to  talk  about  to-night,  but  confessing  Christ.  In 
the  iotfy  chapter  of  Romans,  loth  verse — a  very  little  verse — 
you  will  find  these  words  :  ' '  For  with  the  heart  man  believeth  unto 
righteousness  ;  and  with  the  mouth  confession  is  made  unto  salva- 
tion.'' I  believe  there  are  a  great  many  people  who  have  got  into 
trouble  and  difficulty  right  in  the  middle  of  that  verse,  because 
they  do  not  understand  why  it  is  that  they  do  not  have  the  joy 
they  have  heard  other  Christian  people  talk  about.  They  say  they 
believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  they  say  they  trust  Him,  and 
Him  alone,  for  salvation ;  they  say  that  Christ  is  their  only  hope ; 
but  there  they  stop. 

Now  I  say  to  you  that  confession  is  as  important  as  faith. 
"  With  the  heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness,  and  with  the 
mouth  confession  is  made  unto  salvation."  Then  the  next  verse 
says,  "  For  the  Scripture  sayeth,  Whosoever  believeth  on  Him  shall 
not  be  ashamed."  Now,  if  a  man  really  believes  in  his  heart,  the 
next  thing  he  ought  to  do  is  to  confess  Christ,  is  it  not  ?  And  you 
won't  get  the  blessing  until  you  do.  "  With  the  mouth  confession 
is  made  unto  salvation."  The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  we  are  all 
moral  cowards  ;  we  are  ashamed  to  come  out  and  confess  Christ 
and  take  our  stand  on  the  Lord's  side,  and  on  the  side  of  His 
religion. 

It  is  the  only  religion  in  the  world  that  is  worth  having ;  it  is 
the  only  religion  in  the  world  that  gives  life  to  man  ;  but,  strange 
to  say,  I  believe  we  are  the  only  people  on  earth  who  are  ashamed 
of  their  religion.  You  cannot  find  a  man  who  holds  any  false  doc- 
trine of  religion  who  is  not  proud  of  it.  If  a  man  has  got  hold  of 

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REV.     R.     A.     TORREY 

MR.   MOODY  S  CO-LABORER   IN    HIS  CHICAGO   MISSION 


CONFESSING  CHRIST.  257 

myself  want  to."  I  said,  "  Thank  God  for  that ;  that  man  has  more 
courage  ;  he  is  willing  to  let  the  world  know  that  he  wants  to  be  on 
the  Lord's  side. "  I  never  yet  have  seen  a  man  who  came  out  boldly  in 
that  way  but  that  he  surely  turns  out  all  right  at  last.  Look  at  the 
9th  chapter  of  Luke,  the  23d  verse :  "And  He  said  unto  them 
all,  If  any  man  will  come  after  Me,  let  him  deny  himself  and  take 
up  his  cross  daily  and  follow  me." 

TRYING  TO  GET  TO  HEAVEN  WITHOUT  A  CROSS. 

But  the  cross  is  what  men  do  not  like ;  they  want  to  get  to 
heaven  without  taking  up  the  cross — any  way  but  that.  If  men 
could  buy  salvation,  they  would  be  willing  to  pay  a  good  price  for 
it ;  they  would  go  round  the  world  to  get  to  heaven  without  the 
burden  of  the  cross.  The  way  to  heaven  is  straight  as  an  arrow  ; 
it  is  perfectly  straight.  A  man  need  not  be  in  darkness  about  the 
way  if  he  really  wants  to  know.  But  on  the  way  to  heaven  there 
is  a  cross,  and  if  you  try  to  go  around  it,  or  to  step  over  it,  or  to  do 
anything  else  than  take  it  up  and  bear  it  onward,  you  get  lost. 
When  men  are  ready  to  follow  Christ,  to  deny  themselves,  and 
humble  themselves,  and  take  up  the  cross,  then  salvation  is  ready 
for  them.  Satan  puts  a  straw  across  our  path  and  magnifies  it  and 
makes  us  believe  it  is  a  mountain,  but  all  the  devil's  mountains  are 
mountains  of  smoke ;  when  you  come  up  to  them  they  are  not  there, 
but  mere  mountains  of  smoke. 

Now  there  is  nothing  to  hinder  this  whole  audience  from 
coming  out  on  the  Lord's  side  to-night,  and  confessing  Jesus 
Christ  to  be  their  Saviour;  there  is  nothing  but  your  will  to  prevent 
it.  Satan  has  not  the  power  to  keep  you  from  it  if  you  will. 
Christ  says,  except  a  man  become  converted  and  like  a  little  child 
he  is  not  fit  for  the  kingdom  of  God.  Pride,  I  think,  is  the  worst 
enemy  we  have.  It  keeps  thousands  of  people  out  of  the  kingdom 
of  God.  The  idea  that  we  have  to  humble  ourselves  and  become 
like  a  little  child  is  too  much  for  our  pride,  but,  "  whosoever  shall 
save  his  life  shall  lose  it,  and  whosoever  shall  lose  his  life  for  My 
sake  shall  find  it ;  "  but,  "  whosoever  shall  be  ashamed  of  Me  and 

of  My  word,  of  him  shall  the  Son  of  Man  be  ashamed,  when  He 
17 


264  CONFESSING  CHRIST. 

But  this  man  began  to  publish  it,  and  it  says  that  all  men 
did  marvel.  They  wouldn't  have  it  that  the  Son  of  God  did  it. 
The  man  had  never  been  to  college.  I  don't  know  as  he  could 
write  his  name;  I  don't  know  as  he  had  ever  been  to  school. 
There  was  one  thing  he  did  know:  he  knew  the  Son  of  God  had 
healed  him  and  had  put  a  new  song  into  his  mouth.  Christ  says, 
"  Go  home  and  tell  your  friends  what  great  things  the  Lord  has 
done."  Thus  he  had  the  highest  eloquence;  he  had  the  eloquence 
of  heaven.  The  spirit  of  the  Lord  God  was  upon  him.  Yes,  but 
some  of  these  women  say  u  If  I  was  only  a  man,  I  would  confess." 

WOMAN  THAT  STIRRED  A  WHOLE  TOWN. 

Look  into  the  4th  chapter  of  John.  There  was  a  woman  that 
stirred  up  the  whole  town ;  she  took  one  draught  of  the  living 
water  and  when  she  went  to  publish  it,  she  says,  "Come  and  see 
the  man  that  told  me  everything  I  ever  did;  is  not  this  Christ?" 
And  then  it  says  that  many  believed  her  testimony,  and  then  they 
got  Christ  into  town  and  He  stayed  there  two  or  three  days  and 
many  more  believed  on  account  of  His  own  works.  I  wish  we  had 
a  few  more  women  like  the  woman  of  Samaria,  willing  to  confess 
what  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  done  for  our  souls. 

Now,  there  is  one  man  in  the  Qth  chapter  of  John  I  want  to 
call  your  attention  to.  I  do  not  know  his  name ;  I  wish  I  did, 
because  he  is  one  of  the  men  I  want  to  see  when  I  get  to  heaven. 
I  would  like  to  read  the  whole  chapter,  but  it  is  so  long.  I  will 
just  read  a  few  verses — in  the  ninth  verse  or  eighth  verse.  It  is 
that  blind  man  that  Christ  gave  sight  to.  Here  is  a  whole  chapter 
in  John  of  forty-one  verses,  just  to  tell  how  the  Lord  blessed  that 
blind  beggar.  It  was  put  in  this  book,  I  think,  just  to  bring  out 
the  confession  of  that  man.  "The  neighbors,  therefore,  and  they 
which  before  had  seen  him  which  was  blind,  said,  Is  not  this  he 
that  sat  and  begged.  Some  said  this  is  he;  others  said,  he  is  like 
him;  but  he  said  I  am  he." 

If  it  had  been  our  case  I  think  we  would  have  kept  still ;  we 
would  have  said,  "there  is  a  storm  brewing  among  the  Pharisees, 
and  they  have  said  "If  any  man  acknowledges  Christ  we  will  put 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

Compassion  of  Christ. 

<T  WANT  to  call  your  attention  this  evening  to  just  one  word — 
I  Compassion.  Some  time  ago  I  took  up  the  Concordance,  and 
ran  through  the  life  of  Christ  to  see  what  it  was  that  moved 
Him  to  compassion,  for  we  read  often  in  His  life,  while  He  was 
down  here,  that  He  was  moved  with  compassion.  I  was  deeply 
pleased  in  my  own  soul,  as  I  ran  through  His  life  and  found  those 
passages  of  Scripture  that  tell  us  what  moved  Him  with  compassion. 
In  the  1 4th  chapter  of  Matthew  and  i4th  verse  we  find  these  words: 
"  And  Jesus  went  forth  and  saw  a  great  multitude,  and  was  moved 
with  compassion  toward  them,  and  He  healed  their  sick" 

He  saw  the  great  multitude  and  He  was  moved  with  com- 
passion, and  He  healed  their  sick.  And  in  another  place  it  says 
that  He  healed  all  that  had  need  of  it.  There  didn't  any  one  need 
to  tell  Him  what  was  in  the  hearts  of  the  people.  When  I  stand 
before  an  audience  like  this,  I  cannot  read  your  history,  but  He 
knew  the  history  of  each  one.  It  says  in  one  place  in  Scripture, 
"each  heart  knows  its  own  bitterness,"  and  when  Christ  stood 
before  a  multitude  like  this,  He  knew  the  particular  bitterness 
in  each  heart ;  He  could  read  every  man's  biography ;  He  knew  the 
whole  story ;  and,  as  he  stood  before  that  vast  multitude  the  heart 
of  the  Son  of  God  was  moved  with  compassion,  just  as  in  the  pre- 
ceding verses  we  find  Him,  when  John's  disciples  had  come  to  Him 
with  their  sad  story,  and  with  broken  hearts. 

Their  beloved  master  had  just  been  beheaded  by  the  wicked 
King ;  they  had  just  buried  the  headless  body,  and  came  to  Jesus 
to  tell  all  their  sorrow  to  Him.  It  was  the  best  thing  they  could  do. 
No  one  could  sympathize  with  them  as  Jesus  could,  no  one  had  the 
same  compassion  with  them  that  Jesus  had.  In  all  our  troubles  the 
best  thing  we  can  do  is  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  John's  disciples, 
and  tell  it  all  to  Him.  He  is  a  high-priest  that  can  be  touched  with 

268 


CHAPTER  XX. 
What  Seek  Ye  ? 

'HBRB  are  two  things  I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  this 
afternoon.  The  first  is  in  the  words  of  the  ist  chapter  oi 
John,  38th  verse,  and  the  second  is  in  the  6th  chapter  oj 
Matthew,  33d  verse.  The  first  text  is  the  first  words  that  fell 
from  the  lips  of  Christ  at  the  commencement  of  His  ministry.  It 
was  the  question  He  put  to  those  two  disciples  that  came  and  ques- 
tioned Him  as  to  where  He  dwelt. 

One  afternoon,  about  four  o'clock,  John  the  Baptist  stood  with 
two  of  his  disciples,  and  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  passing  by,  a  little 
way  off,  and  John  lifted  up  his  hand  and  pointed  to  the  man  off  in 
the  distance,  and  said:  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh 
away  the  sins  of  the  world !"  and  John  the  beloved  disciple,  and 
Andrew,  left  their  old  master  and  went  together  toward  Jesus,  and 
Jesus  turned  around  as  they  came  up  to  Him  and  said :  "  What 
seek  ye  ?"  I  thought  this  afternoon  I  would  like  for  a  few  moments 
to  call  your  attention  to  that  text  and  press  that  question  home 
upon  the  people  here.  I  would  like  to  have  all  of  you  ask  your- 
selves the  questions.  What  are  you  seeking  ?  What  did  you  come 
for — what  motive  brought  you  here  this  afternoon  ?  What  do  these 
great  crowds  of  people  here  mean,  day  after  day,  week  after  week  ? 
There  were  all  classes  of  people  seeking  for  Christ,  and  they 
had  every  kind  of  motive  for  seeking  Him.  There  were  some  who 
came  out  of  curiosity,  just  to  see  what  would  happen.  There  was 
another  class  who  came  to  Him  just  because  they  had  friends  that 
were  diseased,  and  they  wanted  their  friends  to  be  healed  and  blessed. 
There  was  the  class  who  came  with  the  hope  of  getting  the  loaves 
and  fishes.  And  there  was  still  another  class  that  were  trying  to 
murder  Him  and  to  get  Him  out  of  the  way ;  they  were  watching 
Him  and  striving  to  get  Him  into  some  conversation  in  which  they 
might  entangle  Him  with  His  words,  and  so  get  an  excuse  to  bring 

277 


WHAT  SEEK  YE?  281 

bank  account  was  swelling.  "  Soul,  take  thine  ease ;  thou  hast 
much  goods  laid  up  for  many  days."  He  never  thought  of  the 
future ;  the  present  was  all  he  cared  anything  about.  But  in  his 
fancied  security  he  heard  the  dread  and  startling  summons,  "  Thou 
fool,  this  night  thy  soul  shall  be  required  of  thee."  He  had  to 
leave  all  these  things  behind  him ;  death  snatched  him  away,  and 
he  lost  the  heaven  he  had  neglected  to  make  sure  of  on  earth. 

I  heard  a  story  of  a  young  lady  who  was  deeply  concerned 
about  her  soul.  Her  father  and  mother,  however,  were  worldly 
people.  They  thought  lightly  of  her  serious  wishes  ;  they  did  not 
sympathize  with  her  state  of  mind.  They  made  up  their  minds  that 
she  should  not  become  a  Christian,  and  tried  every  way  they  could 
to  discourage  her  notions  about  religion.  At  last  they  thought 
they  would  get  up  a  large  party,  and  thus  with  gayety  and  pleasure 
win  her  back  to  the  world. 

THE  BELLE  OF  THE  BALL. 

So  they  made  every  preparation  for  a  gay  time ;  they  even  sent 
to  neighboring  towns  and  got  all  her  most  worldly  companions  to 
come  to  the  house ;  they  bought  her  a  magnificent  silk  dress  and 
jewelry,  and  decked  her  out  in  all  the  finery  of  such  an  occasion. 
The  young  lady  thought  there  would  be  no  harm  in  attending  the 
party ;  that  it  would  be  a  trifling  affair,  a  simple  thing,  and  she 
could,  after  it  was  over,  think  again  of  the  welfare  of  her  soul.  She 
went  decked  out  in  all  her  adornments,  and  was  the  belle  of  the 
ball.  Three  weeks  from  that  night  she  was  on  her  dying  bed.  She 
asked  her  mother  to  bring  her  ball  dress  in.  She  pointed  her  finger 
at  it,  and,  bursting  into  tears,  said,  "  That  is  the  price  of  my  soul." 
She  died  before  the  dawn. 

Oh,  my  friends,  if  you  are  anxious  about  your  soul,  let  every- 
thing else  go ;  let  parties  and  festivals  pass.  Seek  ye  first  the 
Kingdom  of  God  ;  then  all  these  things  will  be  added  unto  you. 
God  commands  you  to  do  it.  If  you  are  lost — if  you  die  in  your 
sin — whose  fault  is  it  ?  God  has  commanded  you  to  repent  and 
to  seek  salvation  at  once. 

Are  any  of  you  going  to  take  the  responsibility  of  putting  it 


282  WHAT  SEEK  YE? 

off?  You  complain  because  Christ  is  urged  upon  you ;  you  com- 
plain because  your  friends  are  anxious  about  you.  How  can  they 
be  otherwise  than  anxious  ?  You  heard  what  Mr.  Sankey  said  a 
little  while  ago  about  the  death  of  a  husband  of  one  of  our  choir. 
This  morning,  while  I  was  preaching,  he  passed  away.  We  prayed 
for  him  at  the  opening,  and  again  at  the  close  of  that  service,  but 
he  was  gone  before  we  got  through.  Three  of  the  ushers  have  been 
taken  away  since  I  have  been  preaching  here. 

A  CLEAR  TITLE. 

When  I  got  up  here  to  preach  this  afternoon  I  said  to  myself: 
"  Perhaps  it  is  my  turn  next."  But,  thank  God,  I  have  an  interest 
up  yonder.  I  can  read  my  title  clear  there.  I  have  sought  and 
found  Christ.  But  on  the  other  hand,  see  how  people  go  on  day  by 
day  and  year  by  year  and  disobey  the  command  of  God.  They  say 
there  is  plenty  of  time.  Why,  you  hear  every  day  of  wills  being 
upset  because  the  man's  mind  was  proved  not  to  be  clear  when 
he  made  the  will  on  his  death-bed.  If  his  mind  is  not  clear 
enough  when  he  is  dying  to  settle  his  little  affairs  here  below,  is 
that  a  time  to  repent  and  make  provision  for  eternity  ?  Is  it  the 
time,  when  we  are  racked  with  pain  and  tortured  with  anguish,  to 
turn  our  hearts  to  God  ?  Is  that  a  time  to  begin  to  think  of  salva- 
tion ?  Is  it  right  or  honorable  to  give  the  dregs  of  a  wasted  and 
misspent  life  to  God? 

I  tell  you  I  have  not  much  faith  in  death-bed  repentances.  I 
do  not  limit  the  power  and  mercy  of  God,  but  I  do  not  believe  in 
them.  If  there  is  one  out  of  a  thousand  that  are  saved,  there  are 
nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  that  are  lost.  They  think  that  they 
repent  then,  but  they  are  scared  and  terrified  ;  it  is  not  repentance, 
it  is  fear ;  when  they  get  better,  they  go  right  back  again  to  their 
wicked  ways.  We  cannot  scare  people  into  repentance ;  they  must 
be  born  in,  not  be  scared  in. 

Let  us  reason  for  a  moment.  Suppose  you  ask  the  advice  of  a 
friend  on  the  earth  as  to  whether  you  had  not  better  repent  now. 
While  I  am  preaching,  young  lady,  just  ask  your  mother  sitting 
beside  you  what  you  had  better  do.  Whisper  to  her — I'll  excuse 


CHAPTER   XXI. 
"To  Every  Man  His  Work." 

<T  WANT  to  call  your  attention  to  a  verse  you  will  find  in  the 
I  1 3th  chapter  of  Mark,  part  of  the  34th  verse — "  To  every  man 

his  work."  "  For  the  Son  of  Man  is  as  a  man  taking  a  far 
journey,  who  left  his  house  and  gave  authority  to  his  servants,  and 
to  every  man  his  work,  and  commanded  the  porter  to  watch."  Now, 
by  reading  that  verse  carefully  it  don't  read,  "  to  every  man  some 
work,"  or  "  to  every  man  a  work,"  but  "  to  every  man  his  work." 
And  I  believe,  if  the  truth  was  known,  that  every  man  and  woman 
in  this  assembly  has  a  work  laid  out  for  them  to  do ;  that  every 
man's  life  is  a  plan  of  the  Almighty,  and  way  back  in  the  councils 
of  eternity  God  laid  out  a  work  for  each  one  of  us. 

There  is  no  man  living  that  can  do  the  work  that  God  has  got 
for  me  to  do.  No  one  can  do  it  but  myself.  And  if  the  work  ain't 
done  we  will  have  to  answer  for  it  when  we  stand  before  God's  bar. 
For  it  says:  " Every  man  shall  be  brought  unto  judgment,  and 
every  one  shall  give  an  account  of  the  deeds  done  in  the  body." 
And  it  seems  to  me  that  every  one  of  us  ought  to  take  this  ques- 
tion home  to-night:  "Well,  am  I  doing  the  work  that  God  has  for 
me  to  do?"  God  has  got  a  work  for  every  one  of  us  to  do. 

Now,  in  the  parable  the  man  who  had  two  talents  had  the  same 
reward  as  the  man  who  had  five  talents.  He  heard  the  same  words 
as  the  man  who  had  five  talents:  "Well  done,  thou  good  and 
faithful  servant,  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord."  The  men 
that  take  good  care  of  the  talents  that  God  has  loaned  them,  he 
always  gives  them  more.  But  if  we  take  the  talent  that  God  has 
given  us  and  lay  it  away  carefully  in  a  napkin  and  bury  it  away, 
God  will  take  even  that  from  us.  God  don't  want  a  man  that  has 
got  one  talent  to  do  the  work  of  a  man  that  has  got  ten.  All  a 
man  has  got  to  answer  for  is  the  one  that  God  has  given  each  man. 

If  we  are  all  of  us  doing  the  work  that  God  has  got  for  us  to 
286 


292  "TO  EVERY  MAN  HIS  WORK." 

I  have  known  a  great  many  ministers  who  wanted  to  know 
how  they  could  keep  their  congregation  out  of  the  world.  Give 
them  so  much  to  do  that  they  won't  have  time  to  cherish  worldly 
influences.  This  young  lady  of  whom  I  was  speaking  came  home, 
and  her  father  and  mother  wanted  her  to  shine  in  fashionable 
society.  No,  she  said  she  had  got  something  better  than  that. 
She  went  to  the  Sabbath-school  superintendent,  and  said  to  him, 
"Can  you  give  me  a  class  in  the  Sunday-school?"  He  was  sur- 
prised that  this  young  lady  should  want  that.  He  told  her  that 
he  had  no  class  he  could  give  her  then. 

CHASED  BY  THE  OLD  SHOEMAKER. 

She  went  away  with  a  resolve  to  do  what  she  could  outside 
of  the  school.  One  day,  as  she  was  walking  up  the  street,  she 
saw  a  little  boy  running  out  of  a  shoemaker's  shop,  and  behind 
him  was  the  old  shoemaker  chasing  him  with  a  wooden  last  in  his 
hand.  He  had  not  run  far  until  the  last  was  thrown  at  him,  and 
he  was  struck  in  the  back.  The  boy  stopped  and  began  to  cry. 
The  spirit  of  the  Lord  touched  that  young  lady's  heart  and  she 
went  to  where  he  was.  She  stepped  up  to  him,  and  asked  him  if 
he  was  hurt.  He  told  her  it  was  none  of  her  business.  She  went 
to  work  then  to  win  that  boy's  confidence.  She  asked  him  if  he 
went  to  school.  He  said,  "No."  "Well,  why  don't  you  go  to 
school?"  "Don't  want  to."  She  asked  him  if  he  would  not  like 
to  go  to  Sunday-school.  "If  you  will  come,"  she  said,  "I  will  tell 
you  beautiful  stories  and  read  nice  books." 

She  coaxed  and  pleaded  with  him,  and  at  last  said  that  if  he 
would  consent  to  go,  she  would  meet  him  on  the  corner  of  a  street 
which  they  should  agree  upon.  He  at  last  consented,  and  the 
next  Sunday,  true  to  his  promise,  he  waited  for  her  at  the  place 
designated.  She  took  him  by  the  hand  and  led  him  into  the 
Sabbath-school.  "  Can  you  give  me  a  place  to  teach  this  little 
boy?"  she  asked  of  the  superintendent.  He  looked  at  the  boy, 
but  they  didn't  have  any  such  looking  little  ones  in  the  school. 
A  place  was  found,  however,  and  she  sat  down  in  the  corner  and 
tried  to  win  that  soul  for  Christ. 


"TO  EVERY  MAN  HIS  WORK."  293 

Many  would  look  upon  that  with  contempt,  but  she  had  got 
something  to  do  for  the  Master.  The  little  boy  had  never  heard 
anybody  sing  so  sweetly  before.  When  he  went  home  he  was 
asked  where  he  had  been.  "Been  among  the  angels,"  he  told  his 
mother.  He  said  he  had  been  to  the  Sabbath-school,  but  his 
father  and  mother  told  him  he  must  not  go  there  any  more,  or  he 
would  get  a  flogging.  The  next  Sunday  he  went,  and  when  he 
came  home  he  got  the  promised  flogging.  He  went  the  second 
time  and  got  a  flogging,  and  also  a  third  time  with  the  same  result. 
At  last  he  said  to  his  father,  "I  wish  you  would  flog  me  before  I 
go,  and  then  I  won't  have  to  think  of  it  when  I  am  there."  The 
father  said,  "If  you  go  to  that  Sabbath-school  again  I  will  kill 
you." 

HOW  THE  BOY  SPENT  HIS  SATURDAYS. 

It  was  the  father's  custom  to  send  his  son  out  on  the  street  to 
sell  articles  to  the  passers-by,  and  he  told  the  boy  that  he  might 
have  the  profits  of  what  he  sold  on  Saturday.  The  little  fellow 
hastened  to  the  young  lady's  house  and  said  to  her,  "Father  said 
that  he  would  give  me  every  Saturday  to  myself,  and  if  you  will 
just  teach  me  then  I  will  come  to  your  house  every  Saturday  after- 
noon." I  wonder  how  many  young  ladies  there  are  that  would  give 
up  their  Saturday  afternoons  just  to  lead  one  boy  into  the  Kingdom 
of  God. 

Every  Saturday  afternoon  that  little  boy  was  there  at  her 
house,  and  she  tried  to  tell  him  the  way  to  Christ.  She  labored 
with  him,  and  at  last  the  light  of  God's  spirit  broke  upon  his  heart. 
One  day  while  he  was  selling  his  wares  at  the  railroad  station,  a 
train  of  cars  approached  unnoticed  and  passed  over  both  his  legs. 
A  physician  was  summoned,  and  the  first  thing  after  he  arrived, 
the  little  sufferer  looked  up  into  his  face  and  said,  "  Doctor,  will  I 
live  to  get  home?"  "  No,"  said  the  doctor,  "you  are  dying."  "Will 
you  tell  my  mother  and  father  that  I  died  a  Christian?"  They 
bore  home  the  boy's  corpse  and  with  it  the  last  message  that  he 
died  a  Christian. 

Oh,  what  a  noble  work  was  that  young  lady's  in  saving  that 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
The  Six  "One  Things." 

T  WANT  to  call  your  attention  this  afternoon  to  six  "  One 
$  Things."  The  first,  Mark  x.  21  :  "  One  thing  thou  lackest." 

We  very  often  hear  people  say,  "  Oh,  well ;  he  is  a  very  good 
man,"  or,  "  She  is  a  very,  very  good  person ;  but  she  lacks  one 
thing,"  or,  "  He  lacks  one  thing."  But  if  that  one  thing  is  salva- 
tion, why,  he  lacks  everything.  You  might  say  all  that  a  dead 
man  lacks  is  life.  That  is  all.  All  that  a  beggar  lacks  is  money 
to  make  him  rich.  Only  one  thing !  A  sick  man  that  is  lying 
right  on  the  borders  of  the  eternal  world  only  lacks  his  health  to 
make  him  all  right. 

That  is  one  thing,  but  it  is  everything  to  a  man  that  is  sick. 
Money  is  everything  to  a  man  in  want — a  beggar ;  and  if  a 
man  lacks  salvation  he  lacks  everything ;  and  it  seems  to  me  it 
would  be  well  for  us  just  to  pause  in  life  once  in  a  while  and  ask 
ourselves  the  question,  "  Do  we  lack  that  one  thing  ?"  Now,  that 
young  man  spoken  of  here  came  to  Christ,  and  Christ,  beholding 
him,  loved  him.  He  was  a  noble  young  man.  He  tried  to  save 
himself  by  the  law.  He  had  the  law  and  the  prophets  ;  but  when 
Christ  just  touched  his  heart — for  he  had  his  heart  set  on  his  pos- 
sessions— he  found  that  he  did  not  love  God  with  all  his  heart; 
he  did  not  love  his  neighbor  as  himself.  He  thought  he  did; 
but  he  didn't  know  himself.  He  spoke  very  well  of  himself.  He 
had  a  good  opinion  of  himself. 

There  are  a  great  many  such  people,  and  it  is  almost  im- 
possible to  do  them  good.  It  is  a  good  deal  better  for  God  to 
say,  "  Well  done  !"  than  for  us.  It  is  a  good  deal  better  for 
God  to  say  we  lack  nothing  than  it  is  for  us  to  say  ourselves 
we  are  not  lacking. 

I  am  told  Whitfield  once  was  a  guest  of  a  General  high  in 
position,  and  Whitfield's  courage  failed  him.  He  wanted  to  speak 
296 


300  THE  SIX  "ONE  THINGS." 

And  another  thing :  I  don't  believe  we  will  have  any  peace  or 
comfort  or  joy  until  this  question  of  assurance  is  settled.  Some 
people  say,  "  It  is  presumption  for  you  to  stand  up  there  and  say  you 
know  you  are  saved."  I  say  it  is  presumption  for  me  to  stand  up 
here  and  say  I  doubt  it  when  God  has  said  it.  Shall  I  doubt  God's 
own  word  ? 

But  you  say  it  is  too  good  to  be  true.  Then  you  must  go  and 
settle  that  thing  with  the  Lord,  not  with  me.  I  take  it  as  I  find  it  in 
the  Word  of  God.  Do  you  think  He  is  going  to  leave  His  children 
down  here  in  the  dark  world  to  go  through  life  with  terrible  uncer- 
tainties, not  knowing  whether  we  are  going  to  glory  or  perdition  ? 
There  is  no  knowledge  like  that  of  a  man  who  knows  he  is 
saved,  who  can  look  up  and  see  his  "title  clear  to  mansions  in 
the  skies." 

EMPEROR  MADE  HIM    CAPTAIN  OF  THE  GUARD. 

It  is  said  of  Napoleon  that  while  he  was  reviewing  his  army 
one  day,  his  horse  became  frightened  at  something,  and  the  Em- 
peror  lost  his  rein,  and  the  horse  went  away  at  full  speed,  and  the 
Emperor's  life  was  in  danger.  He  could  not  get  hold  of  the  rein, 
and  a  private  in  the  ranks  saw  it,  and  sprang  out  of  the  ranks 
towards  the  horse,  and  was  successful  in  getting  hold  of  the  horse's 
head  at  the  peril  of  his  own  life.  The  Emperor  was  very  much 
pleased.  Touching  his  hat,  he  said  to  him,  "  I  make  you  Captain 
of  my  Guard."  The  soldier  didn't  take  his  gun  and  walk  up  there. 
He  threw  it  away,  stepped  out  of  the  ranks  of  the  soldiers,  and 
went  up  to  where  the  body-guard  stood.  The  captain  of  the  body- 
guard ordered  him  back  into  the  ranks,  but  he  said  "No!  I  won't 
go!"  "Why  not?"  "  Because  I  am  Captain  of  the  Guard."  "You 
Captain  of  the  Guard?"  "Yes,"  replied  the  soldier.  "Who  said 
it  ?"  and  the  man  pointing  to  the  Emperor,  said,  "  He  said  it." 

That  was  enough.  Nothing  more  could  be  said.  He  took  the 
Emperor  at  his  word.  My  friends,  if  God  says  anything  let  us 
take  Him  at  His  word.  "He  that  believeth  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  shall  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  Don't  you 
believe  it?  Don't  you  believe  you  have  got  everlasting  life?  It 


THE  SIX  "ONE  THINGS."  307 

to  be  the  worst  thing  you  could  have  done,  and  the  thing  you  have 
least  hope  of  may  turn  out  to  be  your  greatest  success. 

An  old  woman  who  was  seventy-five  years  old  had  a  Sabbath- 
school  two  miles  away  among  the  mountains.  One  Sunday  there 
came  a  terrible  storm  of  rain,  and  she  thought  at  first  she  would 
not  go  that  day,  but  then  she  thought,  ' '  What  if  some  one  should 
go  and  not  find  me  there  ?  "  Then  she  put  on  her  waterproof,  and 
umbrella,  and  over-shoes,  and  away  she  went  through  the  storm, 
two  miles  away,  to  the  Sabbath-school  in  the  mountains.  When 
she  got  there  she  found  one  solitary  young  man,  and  taught  him 
the  best  she  knew  how  all  the  afternoon.  She  never  saw  him 
again,  and  I  don't  know  but  the  old  woman  thought  her  Sabbath 
had  been  a  failure. 

OLD  WOMAN  RECEIVED  A  LETTER. 

That  week  the  young  man  enlisted  in  the  army,  and  in  a  year 
or  two  after  the  old  woman  got  a  letter  from  the  soldier  thanking 
her  for  going  through  the  storm  that  Sunday.  This  young  man 
thought  that  stormy  day  he  would  just  go  and  see  if  the  old 
woman  was  in  earnest,  and  if  she  cared  enough  about  souls  to  go 
through  the  rain.  He  found  she  came  and  taught  him  as  carefully 
as  if  she  was  teaching  the  whole  school,  and  God  made  that  the 
occasion  of  winning  that  young  man  to  Christ.  When  he  lay  dying 
in  a  hospital  he  sent  the  message  to  the  old  woman  that  he  would 
meet  her  in  heaven. 

Was  it  not  a  glorious  thing  that  she  did  not  get  discouraged 
because  she  had  but  one  school  and  scholar  ?  Be  willing  to  work 
with  one.  Bear  in  mind  the  words,  "  This  one  thing  I  do."  I  live 
for  souls  and  for  eternity  ;  I  want  to  win  some  soul  to  Christ.  If 
you  want  this  and  work  for  it,  eternity  alone  can  tell  the  result. 
May  God  give  us  a  passion  for  souls. 

When  Joshua  was  one  hundred  and  ten  years  old,  the  old  war- 
rior lay  dying,  and  he  called  the  Elders  in  Israel  around  him,  and 
as  they  gathered  around  his  bedside,  he  gave  these  words  as  his 
dying  testimony.  There  stand  the  Blders  in  Israel  and  he  was  the 
last  one  of  the  great  leaders  alive.  Moses  was  gone,  Aaron  was 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 
Christ's  Call  to  Peter. 

fWANT  to  call  your  attention  this  afternoon  to  the  life  of  Peter. 
If  you  will  just  turn  your  Bibles  to  the  first  chapter  of  John,  4oth 

verse,  that  is  the  first  glimpse  we  get  of  him :  "  One  of  the 
two  which  heard  John  speak,  and  followed  him,  was  Andrew,  Simon 
Peter's  brother.  He  first  findeth  his  own  brother,  Simon,  and  saith 
unto  him,  we  have  found  the  Messias,  which  is,  being  interpreted, 
the  Christ.  And  he  brought  him  to  Jesus.  And  when  Jesus 
beheld  him,  He  said,  Thou  art  Simon,  the  Son  of  Jona;  thou  shalt 
be  called  Cephas,  which  is  by  interpretation,  a  stone."  That  is 
John's  first  account  of  Peter  and  Christ's  meeting,  the  first  time 
they  met.  Then  in  Matthew,  in  the  4th  chapter,  i8th  verse,  we 
find  that  they  met  again,  and  I  have  an  idea  that  that  account  in 
John  was  that  Peter  was  called  to  be  a  disiciple,  a  follower  of 
Christ;  but  in  Matthew,  iv.,  18,  he  is  called  from  his  business,  his 
occupation,  to  become  an  apostle  and  a  worker  in  the  vineyard. 

The  i8th  verse  says:  "And  Jesus,  walking  by  the  sea  of 
Galilee,  saw  two  brethren,  Simon  called  Peter,  and  Andrew  his 
brother,  casting  a  net  into  the  sea:  for  they  were  fishers.  And 
He  saith  unto  them,  follow  me,  and  I  will  make  you  fishers  of  men. 
And  they  straightway  left  their  nets,  and  followed  Him." 

One  thought  I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  is  this:  that 
before  a  man  leaves  his  occupation,  whatever  his  business  may 
be,  to  give  his  whole  life  and  service  to  God,  he  must  be  sure  he 
has  got  the  call,  u  Follow  thou  me."  I  think  there  are  great  mis- 
takes being  made  every  year  by  men  who  would  make  good  far- 
mers, carpenters,  and  mechanics,  perhaps  by  those  who  would  make 
good  business  men,  giving  up  their  occupation  and  attempting  to 
preach,  to  work  for  God. 

Now,  I  don't  know  how  many  men  have  come  to  me  during 
the  past  few  months  and  asked  my  advice  about  their  going  into 

309 


310  CHRIST'S  CALL  TO  PETER. 

the  ministry.  I  never  advised  a  man  in  my  life  to  go  into  the 
ministry.  I  don't  think  I  ever  shall,  for  I  think  the  ministry  is  too 
high  a  calling  for  a  man  to  be  influenced  to  enter  it  by  anybody. 
He  must  get  a  higher  call  than  from  man.  He  wants  to  get  a  call 
from  above.  If  God  calls  him  into  His  service,  to  leave  all  and 
become  a  "fisher  of  men,"  he  won't  fail.  One  reason  why  so  many 
break  down  in  the  pulpit  is  because  they  run  before  they  are  sent, 
in  fact  before  they  are  called  at  all,  and  the  result  is  so  many 
failures.  Now  let  us  be  sure  we  have  got  a  call  before  we  give  up 
our  business  to  go  into  the  service  of  the  Lord,  and  one  good  way 
to  tell  whether  you  have  got  that  call  is :  Has  God  used  you  ? 

TRIED  BY  A  PRACTICAL  TEST. 

I  think  Wesley  had  a  good  idea  of  it.  When  a  man  came  to 
him  and  asked  him  if  he  should  enter  the  ministry,  he  used  to  ask 
him:  "Has  God  blessed  you?  Have  there  been  any  souls  con- 
verted under  your  efforts  ?  How  is  it  when  you  preach  ;  do  people 
go  to  sleep  under  it  or  wake  up  ?  Do  some  get  mad  and  some  get 
converted  ?"  He  thought  that  was  a  good  sign  that  they  had  been 
called  to  the  ministry,  for  that  is  what  the  Gospel  does,  for  it  wakes 
up  some  and  brings  them  to  the  feet  of  Christ.  It  is  better  if  they 
get  mad,  for  then  there  is  some  hope  of  their  getting  over  it  and 
becoming  Christians ;  but  if  they  go  to  sleep  they  may  make  up 
their  minds  they  are  not  called.  We  don't  want  that. 

Now,  undoubtedly,  Peter,  after  he  met  Christ,  went  about  fish- 
ing, and  undoubtedly  he  was  a  successful  man  at  that  work.  He 
stayed  there  until  Christ  came  along  one  day  and  told  him,  "  Follow 
me.''  There  is  something  very  sweet  about  this,  that  when  He 
called  Peter  to  His  service  the  thing  He  said  was,  "  Follow  me." 
Christ  said  to  Peter,  "  Follow  thou  me,"  and  as  long  as  Peter  fol- 
lowed Him  he  was  successful.  As  long  as  any  of  us  will  follow 
Christ  we  will  be  successful,  successful  in  everything  we  under- 
take to  to  do.  Christ  never  failed  in  anything  He  undertook  to  do. 
God  never  failed.  It  is  man  that  is  constantly  failing  ;  but  if  we 
get  our  orders  from  above  and  God  calls  us  we  cannot  fail.  It  is 
utterly  impossible. 


CHRIST'S  CALL  TO  PETER.  313 

edict  had  gone  forth.  "  You  are  around  among  the  people,  preach- 
ing in  the  towns  and  villages,  and  whom  do  the  people  say  I  am  ? 
What  do  they  say  ?" 

"Well,  some  say  that  Thou  art  John  the  Baptist,  and  some 
say  Elias,  and  others  Jeremiah,  or  one  of  the  prophets,"  and  He 
saith  unto  them,  "  But  whom  say  ye  that  I  am  ?" 

There  was  the  question  brought  home  to  them.  They  had 
strong  faith  in  Him,  and  strong  love  for  Him,  but  they  would  not 
confess  Him  because  if  they  did  they  would  go  out  of  the  Syna- 
gogue. "Now,  whom  do  you  say  I  am?"  "And  Simon  Peter 
answered  and  said,  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God." 

PETER'S  FRANK  CONFESSION. 

That  is  who  He  was — Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God.  That 
put  Peter  out  of  the  Synagogue.  He  could  not  get  in  after  that. 
He  had  made  his  confession.  "And  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto 
Him :  Blessed  art  thou  Simon  Barjona ;  for  flesh  and  blood  hath 
not  revealed  it  unto  thee,  but  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven."  It 
seems  as  if  Christ  was  always,  when  down  here,  was  all  the  time 
trying  to  find  some  one  willing  to  confess  Him.  It  was  to  Him 
like  a  cup  of  water  to  a  thirsty  man  to  find  in  this  dark  world  a 
man  ready  to  say  He  was  all  He  professed  to  be. 

There  are  men  now  trying  to  make  out  that  Jesus  was  not  the 
Lord  divine,  the  Lord  of  glory,  the  Lord  of  heaven ;  that  He  was 
not  what  He  professed  to  be  ;  but,  ah  !  thank  God !  there  were  some 
men  that  believed  in  Him,  stood  by  Him,  confessed  Him,  M'ere  not 
ashamed  of  Him  ;  and,  thank  God!  they  live  to-day,  their  influence 
lives  to-day,  here  in  this  city,  at  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
because  they  took  their  stand  and  were  not  ashamed  to  confess 
Him. 

But  now  turn  to  the  9th  chapter  of  Luke,  28th  verse.  Here 
is  Peter  turning  his  eyes  toward  Rome,  getting  to  worship  the 
saints,  and  not  knowing  the  difference  between  Christ  and  Moses 
and  Klias.  The  idea  that  Peter  should  put  Christ  on  the  same 
level  with  Elias  and  Moses.  "  And  it  came  to  pass  about  eight 
days  after  these  sayings,  He  took  Peter  and  John  and  James  and 


320  CHRIST'S  CALL  TO  PETER. 

But  now  they  start  back  into  the  city  with  Christ.  They  have 
got  him  under  arrest,  and  the  next  thing  is,  Peter  follows  Him 
afar  off.  This  is  the  fourth  step  of  Peter's  downfall.  When  Chris- 
tians get  to  following  Christ  afar  off  you  may  know  it  won't  be  long 
before  they  will  deny  Him.  If  there  was  any  night  when  Christ 
needed  Peter  it  was  that  night. 

If  there  was  any  night  when  He  needed  His  little  band  around 
Him  it  was  that  night,  He  did  not  want  to  be  forsaken  that  night, 
but  at  that  very  hour  Peter  was  following  Him  afar  off.  How  many 
Christians  to-day  are  following  Him  afar  off.  How  the  cause  of 
Christ  to-day  needs  everyone  that  professes  to  be  a  follower  of  Jesus, 
and  how  we  ought  to  come  out  and  follow  Him  boldly  and  gladly. 
The  first  words  were  "Follow  me,"  as  He  took  Peter  from  his 
business  and  now  he  follows  Him  afar  off. 

PETER'S  BASE  DENIAL. 

The  next  thing  is  we  find  him  with  the  enemies  of  Jesus 
Christ.  It  won't  be  long  before  from  following  afar  off  we  will  be 
with  Christ's  enemies.  There  he  is  among  Christ's  enemies.  That 
is  the  next  step,  and  at  last  one  comes  in  and  looks  at  him  and 
says,  "You  are  one  of  His  disciples?"  "No,  I  am  not."  He 
denies  it.  The  man  that  had  been  with  him  for  three  years  says, 
"  I  am  not  His  disciple.  I  don't  know  Him."  "  I  believe  you  are." 
"Well,  I  am  not."  I  suppose  he  thought  that  was  the  end  of  it; 
that  it  was  all  settled.  A  little  while  after  another  came  and 
looked  at  him  saying :  "  This  man  is  one  of  that  Galilean's  fol- 
lowers." "  I  am  not,"  says  Peter.  "  I  am  not.  Don't  you  accuse 
me  of  that.  I  tell  you  I  don't  know  anything  about  it."  "Well, 
you  look  very  much  like  a  man  I  have  seen  with  Him.  I  was  out 
there  in  the  wilderness  when  he  fed  the  five  thousand,  and  if  you 
are  not  one  of  the  men  who  passed  around  the  bread  you  look  very 
much  like  him."  And  Peter  says,  "  I  am  not  the  man.  Don't  you 
accuse  me  of  that." 

Thus  Peter  denies  Him.  And  by-and-by  another  man  comes 
up  and  he,  too,  recognizes  Peter  and  says,  "Surely  thou  are  one  of 
His  disciples,  and  Peter  denies  Him  again.  The  third  man  comes 


WANAMAKER     FALLS-NORTH  Fl  ELD 


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REV.    GEORGE    F.     PENTECOST,     D.  D. 

ONE  OF  MR.   MOODY'S  MOST  TRUSTED  AND  SUCCESSFUL   HELPERS 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 
Decision. 

will  find  my  text  this  afternoon  in  the  27th  chapter  of  the 
A  gospel  according  to  Matthew,  part  of  the  22d  verse  :  "  What 
shall  I  then  do  with  Jesns  which  is  called  Christ?"  Our 
last  Sunday  here  has  come,  and  I  am  speaking  to  many  to-day 
that  will  probably  not  be  here  again.  Even  if  you  should  all 
want  to  come  you  probably  would  not  be  able  to;  so  to-day  I  want 
to  press  this  question  home  upon  you.  For  ten  weeks  we  have 
been  trying  to  preach  to  you  about  Christ,  and  tell  you  something 
about  Him.  To  be  sure  we  have  done  it  very  poorly,  but  now  the 
time  has  come  for  us  to  close.  It  remains  with  you  to  say  whether 
these  meetings  shall  close  and  leave  you  out  of  the  ark  or  in  it. 
A  good  deal  depends  upon  this  afternoon's  meeting.  A  solemn 
question  and  a  personal  one  is  before  you ;  not  what  your  neigh- 
bors and  friends  are  going  to  do,  but  "  what  shall  I  do  with 
Jesus  ?  " 

Pilate  was  in  great  difficulty.  The  question  had  been  sprung 
upon  him,  as  it  were,  suddenly.  He  had  not  heard  about  Christ 
for  ten  weeks,  as  you  have,  nor,  as  it  may  be,  for  twenty-five  or 
forty  or  fifty  years.  He  had  not  been  proclaimed  to  Pilate  as  He 
has  been  proclaimed  in  this  Christian  land. 

We  live  within  sight  of  the  cross  and  of  our  Saviour  glorified 
in  heaven,  but  Pilate  only  saw  Him  in  His  humiliation,  when  He 
was  condemned  and  cast  out  by  His  own  nation.  He  was  a 
heathen  man,  wakened  perhaps  suddenly  early  one  Saturday 
morning,  between  the  hours  of  six  and  seven,  called  into  the  judg- 
ment hall  in  great  haste  to  pass  sentence  upon  a  man  that  they 
wanted  to  have  put  to  death  at  once.  They  wanted  him  to  sign  the 
death-warrant.  They  did  not  want  any  trial  or  examination. 

But  when  Pilate  looked  at  Him,  he  saw  that  he  was  a  different 
prisoner  from,  any  he  had  had  before.  Pilate  asked  a  few  questions: 

323 


326  DECISION. 

for  eternity  for  want  of  decision  !  I  believe  in  my  soul  that  there 
are  more  at  this  day  being  lost  in  this  city  for  want  of  decision  than 
for  any  other  thing. 

O,  my  friends,  what  is  your  decision  to-day  ?  What  are  you 
going  to  do  with  Christ  ?  That  is  the  question  to-day.  I  do  not 
care  much  about  the  sermon ;  if  I  could  only  get  this  text  down 
into  your  heart,  get  it  down  deep  into  your  soul,  I  should  feel  I  had 
accomplished  my  work  here.  It  is  not  preaching  you  want  now ; 
it  is  to  come  to  a  decision,  to  decide  what  you  will  do  with  God's 
own  Son  ?  He  gave  Him  up  freely  for  us  all.  Will  you  not  receive 
Him  ?  It  is  to  have  Him  for  our  Saviour  now,  or  at  some  future 
day  to  have  Him  for  our  judge. 

TRIES  TO  SHIRK  RESPONSIBILITY. 

Pilate,  like  every  other  sinner,  wanted  to  get  rid  of  the  respon- 
sibility. He  did  not  like  to  be  pressed  to  a  decision.  He  shifted 
the  responsibility  to  Herod.  But  even  Herod  refused  to  take  His 
life,  and  sent  Him  back ;  so  Pilate  tries  again.  He  thinks  he  has 
got  a  plan  that  will  work.  He  puts  it  out  of  his  own  power — foolish 
man  !  He  ought  to  have  decided  "  it"  himself,  and  not  left  the 
multitude  to  decide.  He  said,  a  I  will  put  the  question  to  them  now 
and  get  them  to  decide."  Poor  deluded  man !  He  thought  they 
would  choose  Jesus  instead  of  Barabbas. 

He  did  not  know  the  depravity  of  man's  heart,  and  how  they 
were  in  league  with  hell  against  Christ.  He  took  the  murderer  and 
highwayman,  and  asked  them  which  one  he  should  release,  and  the 
multitude  lifted  up  their  voice  and  said,  "  Release  unto  us  Barab- 
bas." After  they  had  made  that  decision  the  poor  disapppointed 
Governor  said  to  them,  "  What  shall  I  do  with  Jesus  that  was  called 
Christ  ?"  And  they  answered,  "  Let  Him  be  crucified." 

Let  us  look  at  Barabbas.  It  seems  to  me  that  there  is  no  case 
in  the  whole  Bible  where  the  great  doctrine  of  substitution  is 
brought  out  better  than  in  this  one.  There  was  a  man  condemned 
in  one  of  our  Western  cities.  What  troubled  him  the  most  was, 
that  the  night  he  was  to  be  executed,  they  were  making  the  gallows 
in  the  prison.  He  heard  them  sawing  the  planks  and  driving  the 


DECISION.  329 

Won't  you  stop  just  a  moment  and  think,  What  shall  I  do  with 
Him  ?  One  of  two  things  you  must  do  ;  you  must  either  receive 
Him  or  reject  Him.  You  receive  Him  here,  and  He  will  receive 
you  there ;  you  reject  Him  here  and  He  will  reject  you  there.  O, 
may  every  soul  make  up  its  mind  where  it  will  spend  eternity ! 
Whether  it  will  be  found  in  the  world  of  light  or  in  the  dark  cav- 
erns of  eternal  woe. 

ONE  THING  WEALTH  COULD  NOT  BUY. 

There  was  a  young  woman  dying.  Her  father  and  mother 
were  wealthy.  They  had  brought  her  up  with  every  wish  gratified. 
She  had  lived  in  luxury.  In  worldly  things  she  had  wanted  noth- 
ing. Her  parents  bestowed  upon  her  all  that  wealth  could  buy ; 
but  at  last  she  was  taken  sick,  and  when  she  came  down  to  the 
bank  of  the  river,  she  said  :  "  Father  and  mother,  won't  you  go  with 
me,  it  is  dark  ?  "  They  wept  bitterly  over  the  dying  child,  but  they 
told  her  they  could  not  go.  Then  she  wanted  them  to  pray  for 
her,  but  they  didn't  know  how  to  pray.  The  father  and  the  mother 
stood  at  her  bedside  and  sent  for  a  minister,  but  it  was  too  late. 
When  he  arrived  she  was  dead. 

My  friends,  that  dark  hour  will  come  to  all  of  us.  We  must 
pass  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  and  if  we  have 
not  Christ  it  will  be  very  dark.  A  man  became  anxious  for  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  a  friend.  He  went  and  asked  him  if  he  would 
not  come  to  Christ.  The  man  was  occupied  in  business  ;  he  didn't 
have  time  to  seek  the  Kingdom  of  God.  Time  passed  on,  and  one 
day  this  kind  friend  heard  that  the  man  to  whom  he  had  spoken 
was  sick,  that  he  had  caught  cold.  The  friend  went  to  the  sick 
man's  bedside,  hoping  to  win  the  soul  to  Christ.  He  spoke  to  him 
about  Jesus,  and  begged  him  not  to  delay  repentance.  The  man 
said  to  the  friend,  "  I  wish  you  would  come  in  to-morrow ;  I  don't 
feel  well  enough  to  talk  now,  but  come  in  to-morrow,  and  I  will  be 
better." 

The  next  day  he  went  again,  and  the  man  said,  "  Don't  talk 
to  me  now ;  I  am  not  well  enough  yet."  The  next  day  he  went 
again,  but  the  doctor  had  given  orders  that  no  one  should  go  into 


332  DECISION. 

You  would  not  give  up  your  home,  your  advantages,   all  your 
friends,  if  you  did  not  love  the  person. 

So  it  is  with  Christ.  You  have  been  told  about  Him,  read 
about  Him,  and  I  have  come  to-day  and  asked  you  if  you  would 
accept  Him.  I  have  come  to-day  to  get  a  bride  for  my  Master.  I 
have  come  to  plead  Christ's  cause  among  you.  Out  of  these 
thousands  of  women  are  there  not  some  who  are  willing  to  become 
Christ's  people?  Is  there  one  who  will  go  with  this  man?  Now, 
just  answer  it  in  your  own  heart  and  say,  "By  the  grace  of  God  I 
will  accept  Jesus.  This  very  day  and  this  very  hour  I  will  become 
His."  Now,  just  think  a  moment  and  answer  the  question,  "What 
shall  I  do  with  the  Jesus  who  is  called  Christ?" 

MADE  A  GREAT  MISTAKE. 

I  remember  when  Mr.  Sankey  and  myself  were  in  Chicago 
preaching.  We  had  been  five  Sunday  nights  on  the  life  of  Christ. 
We  had  taken  Him  from  the  cradle,  and  on  the  fifth  night  we  had 
just  got  Him  up  to  where  we  have  him  to-day.  He  was  in  the 
hands  of  Pilate,  and  Pilate  didn't  know  what  to  do  with  Him.  I 
remember  it  distinctly,  for  I  made  one  of  the  greatest  mistakes 
that  night  I  ever  made.  After  I  had  nearly  finished  my  sermon  I 
said,  "I  want  you  to  take  this  home  with  you,  and  next  Sunday 
night  we  will  see  what  you  will  do  with  Him." 

Well,  after  a  while  the  meeting  closed,  and  we  had  a  second 
meeting.  The  people  gathered  in  the  room,  and  Mr.  Sankey  dur- 
ing the  service  sang  a  hymn,  and  as  he  got  down  to  the  verse 
"The  Saviour  calls,  for  refuge  fly,"  I  saw  I  had  made  a  mistake  in 
telling  the  people  that  next  week  they  could  answer.  I  saw  that  it 
was  wrong  to  put  off  answering  the  question.  After  the  meeting 
closed  I  started  to  go  home.  They  were  wringing  the  fire-alarm  at 
that  time,  and  it  proved  to  be  the  death  knell  of  our  city.  I  .didn't 
know  what  it  meant  and  so  went  home.  That  night  the  fire  raged 
through  the  city,  destroying  everything  in  its  path,  and  before  the 
next  morning  the  very  hall  where  he  had  gathered  was  in  ashes. 

People  rushed  through  the  streets  crazed  with  fear,  and  some 
of  those  who  were  at  the  meeting  were  burned  to  death. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 
Man's   Great  Failure. 

T  WANT  now  to  call  your  attention  to  a  clause  in  that  chapter  I 
I  have  just  read,  a  part  of  the  22d  verse  :  "For  there  is  no  differ. 

ence"  Now  that  is  one  of  the  verses,  one  of  the  portions  of 
Scripture,  that  the  natural  man  don't  like.  I  have  had  many  a 
quarrel  with  men  on  this  verse,  because  we  are  just  apt  to  think 
we  are  a  little  better  than  our  friends  and  our  neighbors,  and  men 
don't  like  to  believe  there  is  no  difference.  It  is  one  of  the  greatest 
lesssons  a  man  has  to  learn — that  he  is  a  sinner.  If  you  don't 
believe  that  you  are  sick  you  won't  call  in  a  physician.  It  is  just 
because  the  natural  man  don't  like  this  text  I  have  taken  it  to-night. 

I  have  found  out  long  ago  that  the  lessons  we  don't  like  are 
the  best  medicine  for  us.  I  can  imagine  there  is  some  one  here 
who  says,  "  I  don't  believe  that  statement,  that  there  is  no  differ- 
ence." I  can  imagine  there  is  some  one  here  who  says,  "  Isn't  it 
better  for  a  man  to  be  a  sober  man  than  it  is  to  be  a  drunkard  ? 
Isn't  it  better  for  a  man  to  be  honest  than  it  is  for  a  man  to  be  dis- 
honest ?  "  Yes,  we  will  admit  all  that ;  but  that  don't  apply  when 
it  comes  to  the  great  question  of  salvation.  If  a  man  has  not  been 
saved  from  sin  he  must  perish  like  the  rest  of  the  world. 

Now  if  a  man  wants  to  find  out  what  he  is,  let  him  turn  to  the 
3d  chapter  of  Romans.  He  can  read  his  life  there.  If  you  want 
to  read  your  own  biography,  you  need  not  write  it  yourself.  Turn 
to  the  3d  chapter  of  Romans,  and  it  is  all  there  written  by  a  man 
who  knows  a  good  deal  more  about  us  than  we  do  about  ourselves. 
Christ  was  the  only  one  that  ever  trod  this  earth  that  saw  everything 
in  the  heart  of  man.  We  read  that  he  didn't  commit  himself,  because 
he  knew  their  hearts.  The  heart  is  deceitful.  Who  can  know  it? 
It  is  deceitful  above  all  things,  and  it  is  desperately  wicked.  Now, 
Satan  either  tries  to  make  men  believe  that  they  are  good  enough 
without  salvation,  or  if  he  can't  make  them  believe  that,  he  tries  to 

333 


338  MAN'S  GREAT  FAILURE. 

ment  was,  "Thou  shall  not  have  other  gods."  Then  Moses  and 
Joshua  go  to  have  an  interview  with  God,  and  the  people  whom 
they  had  left  behind  at  once  begin  to  say,  "Make  us  a  god."  And 
the  golden  calf  was  made  and  they  worshipped  it.  When  Moses 
and  Joshua  returned  from  Horeb  they  heard  a  great  shout.  Ha! 
do  you  hear  that  shout?  Is  it  the  shout  of  victory,  of  those  who 
are  rejoicing  in  conquest?  No,  it  is  the  shout  of  the  idolater.  All 
worshipped  the  golden  calf. 

BOWING  DOWN  TO  A  CALF. 

It  was  an  idolatrous  shout  that  the  prophets  heard.  The  wor- 
ship of  the  golden  calf!  You'll  find  it  in  this  city.  One  man 
says,  Give  me  more  money;  another,  Give  me  a  seat  in  Congress; 
another,  Give  me  a  bottle  of  rum.  Ah,  it's  easy  to  condemn  the 
Israelites — it  is  easy  to  smile,  but  beware  that  you  are  not  guilty 
of  the  same  sin.  Man  was  a  failure  under  the  judges,  failure 
under  the  prophets,  and  now  for  2000  years  under  grace  he  has 
been  a  most  stupendous  failure.  Walk  the  streets  and  see  how 
quickly  he  goes  to  ruin.  How  many  are  hastening  down  to  the 
dark  caves  of  sin !  Man  in  his  best  day,  under  the  most  favorable 
circumstances,  is  nothing  but  a  failure. 

Imagine  Noah  stopping  work  on  the  Ark,  and  going  on  a 
preaching  tour.  He  tells  the  people  of  the  Flood.  He  warns 
them  of  their  danger.  He  exhorts  them  to  repent.  All  are  to 
perish,  the  wise,  the  rich,  the  great — all,  all  are  to  perish  when  God 
comes  to  judge.  They  mock  at  him,  They  tell  him,  "You'd 
better  go  -back  to  your  old  Ark :  do  you  think  we  will  believe  that 
the  rich,  the  priests,  the  great,  the  powerful,  are  going  to  perish  as 
you  say?"  They  would  mock,  and  would  not  believe.  I  can  hear 
over  the  waves,  that  proved  the  warning  true,  this  one  text,  "All 
have  sinned  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God." 

Take  the  people  of  Sodom.  Do  you  believe  they  would  believe 
the  warning  voice,  "No,"  they  would  say,  "Sodom  to  be  destroyed? 
Nonsence;  it  was  never  more  prosperous."  They  would  not 
believe,  and  didn't  they  all  perish  alike?  I  tell  you  there  is  no  dif- 
ference when  God  comes.  It  was  my  sad  lot  to  be  in  Chicago 


340  MAN'S  GREAT  FAILURE. 

was  right,  his  friend  had  died  for  him.  Christ  died  for  me.  The 
wages  of  sin  is  death.  Christ  has  received  this  payment.  It  is 
the  height  of  folly  to  bear  this  burden,  when  he  can  so  easily  step 
out  from  under  it. 

A  MAN  WITHOUT  ARMS. 

In  Brooklyn,  I  saw  a  young  man  go  by  without  any  arms. 
My  friend  pointed  him  out,  and  told  me  his  story.  When  the  war 
broke  out  he  felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  go  to  the  front.  He  was  en- 
gaged to  be  married,  and  while  in  the  army  letters  passed  frequently 
between  him  and  his  intended  wife.  After  the  battle  of  the  Wil- 
derness the  young  lady  looked  anxiously  for  the  accustomed  letter. 
At  last  one  came  in  a  strange  hand.  She  opened  it  with  trembling 
fingers,  and  read  these  words  :  "  We  have  fought  a  terrible  battle. 
I  have  been  wounded  so  awfully  that  I  shall  never  be  able  to  sup- 
port you  more.  A  friend  writes  this  for  me.  I  love  you  more  ten- 
derly than  ever,  but  I  release  you  from  your  promise.  I  will  not  ask 
you  to  join  your  life  with  the  maimed  life  of  mine."  That  letter 
was  never  answered.  The  next  train  that  left  the  young  lady  was 
on  it.  She  went  to  his  hospital.  She  found  out  the  number  of 
his  cot  and  she  went  down  the  aisle,  between  the  long  rows  of 
wounded  men. 

At  last  she  saw  the  number ;  she  threw  her  arms  around  his 
neck  and  said  :  "  I'll  not  desert  you.  I'll  take  care  of  you."  He 
did  not  resist  her  love.  They  were  married,  and  there  is  no  hap- 
pier couple  than  this  one.  You're  dependent  on  one  another. 
Christ  says :  "  I'll  take  care  of  you.  I'll  take  you  to  this  bosom 
of  mine."  That  young  man  could  have  spurned  her  love;  he 
could,  but  he  didn't.  Surely  you  can  be  saved  if  you  will  accept 
salvation  of  Him.  Oh,  that  the  grace  of  God  may  reach  your 
heart  to-night,  by  which  you  may  be  brought  out  from  under  the 
curse  of  the  law. 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

Taking  God  at  His  Word. 

'HERB  are  times  in  meetings  when  I  feel  like  bowing  my  head 
and  praying.  It  seems  as  if  we  had  preaching  enough — for 
ten  weeks,  day  after  day,  night  after  night.  I  am  sure  1 
don't  know  how  to  present  Christ  in  any  other  light  than  I  have. 
I've  tried  to  tell  you  of  His  wonderful  grace,  and  how  full  of  love 
He  is;  and  now,  after  I  have  read  a  few  verses  of  Scripture,  I  shall 
call  on  some  of  our  friends  to  tell  you  the  way  of  life,  in  hopes  that 
you  may  get  it  from  other  lips  if  not  from  mine.  Every  soul  here 
to-night  may  be  saved  if  he  will  only  take  God  at  His  word.  Let 
me  read  from  the  i3th  chapter  of  Acts,  39th  verse. 

I  do  not  know  of  any  verse  in  the  whole  Bible  that  puts  the 
way  of  life  in  clearer  light  than  that  39th  verse :  "  By  Him  all  that 
believe  are  justified  from  all  things  from  which  he  could  not  be 
justified  by  the  law  of  Moses."  So  it  is  just  simply  to  believe. 
You  say,  What  am  I  to  believe?  You  are  to  believe  God's  Word; 
you  are  to  take  God  at  His  word  and  trust  Him  for  salvation.  If 
you  trust  Him  to  keep  you,  He  will  keep  you.  He  will  save  you 
the  moment  you  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Instead  of 
trying  to  trust  Him,  instead  of  trying  to  save  ourselves,  just  drop 
the  word  try  and  put  the  word  "  trust  "  in.  He  will  justify  us  in 
all  things  by  just  simply  believing  on  Him. 

I  do  not  know  any  word  that  the  inquirers  stumble  over  more 
than  they  do  over  that  word  believe.  It  is  not  any  miraculous  kind 
of  belief.  Some  people  are  waiting  for  some  belief  to  come  down 
out  of  heaven.  In  their  hearts  they  do  not  believe  they  can  have 
the  same  kind  of  faith  in  Him  that  they  have  in  one  another.  It 
is  not  any  miraculous  faith  or  belief  we  want.  It  is  to  put  our 
trust  in  God,  and  say  with  Job,  "  Though  He  slay  me  yet  will  I 
trust  in  Him."  "I  will  cast  myself  on  the  mercy  of  God."  I 

341 


PART   III. 

MOODY'S    ILLUSTRATIONS, 
ANECDOTES   AND   INCIDENTS. 


SHOW  YOUR  LIGHT. 

A  friend  of  mine  was  walking  along  the  streets  one  dark 
night,  when  he  saw  a  man  coming  along  with  a  lantern.  As  he 
came  up  close  to  him,  he  noticed  by  the  bright  light  that  the  man 
had  no  eyes.  He  went  past  him  ;  but  the  thought  struck  him, 
"Surely  that  man  is  blind  !"  He  turned  around  and  said,  "  My 
friend,  are  you  not  blind  ?  "  "  Yes,"  was  the  answer.  "  Then 
what  have  you  got  the  lantern  for  ?  "  "  I  carry  the  lantern,"  said 
the  blind  man,  "that  people  may  not  stumble  over  me."  Let  us 
take  a  lesson  from  that  blind  man,  and  hold  up  our  light,  burning 
with  the  clear  radiance  of  heaven,  that  men  may  not  stumble 

over  us. 

FAST  TO  THE  SHORE. 

I  once  heard  of  two  men  who,  under  the  influence  of  liquor, 
came  down  one  night  to  where  their  boat  was  tied  ;  they  wanted 
to  return  home,  so  they  got  in  and  began  to  row.  They  pulled 
away  hard  all  night,  wondering  why  they  never  got  to  the  other 
side  of  the  bay.  When  the  grey  dawn  of  morning  broke,  behold, 
they  had  never  loosed  the  mooring  line,  or  raised  the  anchor ! 
And  that's  just  the  way  with  many  who  are  striving  to  enter  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  They  cannot  believe,  because  they  are  tied 
to  this  world.  Cut  the  cord  !  cut  the  cord  !  Set  yourselves  free 
from  the  clogging  weight  of  earthly  things,  and  you  will  soon  go 

on  towards  heaven. 

LAZY  CHRISTIANS. 

A  good  many  people  are  complaining  all  the  time  about  them- 
selves, and  crying  out:  "My  leanness!  my  leanness!"  when 
they  ought  rather  to  say,  "  My  laziness  !  my  laziness  !" 

32  497 


498  MOODY' S   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

THE  OLD  MISER. 

One  of  Mr.  Moody' s  favorite  stories  was  about  a  converted 
miser  to  whom  a  neighbor  in  distress  appealed  for  help.  The 
miser  decided  to  prove  the  genuineness  of  his  coversion  by  giving 
him  a  ham.  On  his  way  to  get  it  the  tempter  whispered  :  "  Give 
him  the  smallest  one  you  have."  A  mental  struggle  ensued,  and 
finally  the  miser  took  down  the  largest  ham  he  had.  "  You  are  a 
fool,"  the  devil  said,  and  the  farmer  replied,  "  If  you  don't  keep 
still  I'll  give  him  every  ham  in  the  smoke  house  ! " 

A  SKEPTIC  ANSWERED. 

Being  interrupted  by  a  man  in  his  audience  during  a  meeting, 
Mr.  Moody  said  :  "  My  friend,  if  you  will  let  me  get  through  I 
will  listen  to  you  all  night.  But  don't  stop  me  to  ask  skeptical 
questions  because  they  only  strengthen  my  faith." 

ONE  PLACE   OF  SAFETY. 

Out  in  our  western  country  in  the  autumn,  when  men  go 
hunting,  and  there  has  not  been  any  rain  for  months,  sometimes 
the  prairie  grass  catches  fire,  and  there  comes  up  a  very  strong 
wind,  and  the  flames  just  roll  along  twenty  feet  high,  and  go  at 
the  rate  of  thirty  or  forty  miles  an  hour. 

When  the  frontier-men  see  it  coming,  what  do  they  do  ? 
They  know  they  cannot  run  as  fast  as  the  fire  can  run.  Not  the 
fleetest  horse  can  escape  from  that  fire.  They  just  take  a  match 
and  light  the  grass  around  them,  and  let  the  fire  sweep  it,  and 
then  they  get  into  the  burnt  district  and  stand  safe.  They  hear 
the  flames  roar ;  they  see  death  coming  towards  them  ;  but  they 
do  not  fear,  they  do  not  tremble  ;  because  the  fire  has  passed  over 
the  place  where  they  are,  and  there  is  no  danger.  There  it  noth- 
ing for  the  fire  to  burn. 

There  is  one  mountain  peak  that  the  wrath  of  God  has  swept 
over ;  that  is  Mount  Calvary,  and  that  fire  spent  its  fury  upon  the 
bosorn  of  the  Son  of  God.  Take  your  stand  here  by  the  cross, 
and  you  will  be  safe  for  time  and  eternity. 


MOODY'S   ILLUSTRATIONS.  499 

CHRIST'S  FORGIVENESS  FOR  HIS   MURDERERS. 

I  can  imagine  when  Christ  said  to  the  little  band  around  Him, 
"  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel."  Peter  said, 
"  Lord,  do  you  really  mean  that  we  are  to  go  back  to  Jerusalem 
and  preach  the  Gospel  to  those  men  that  murdered  you?"  "Yes," 
said  Christ,  "  go  hunt  up  that  man  that  spat  in  my  face ;  tell  him 
he  may  have  a  seat  in  my  kingdom  yet.  Yes,  Peter,  go  find  that 
man  that  made  that  cruel  crown  of  thorns  and  placed  it  on  my 
brow,  and  tell  him  I  will  have  a  crown  ready  for  him  when  he 
comes  into  my  kingdom,  and  there  will  be  no  thorns  in  it.  Hunt 
up  that  man  that  took  a  reed  and  brought  it  down  over  the  cruel 
thorns,  driving  them  into  my  brow,  and  tell  him  I  will  put  a 
sceptre  in  his  hand,  and  he  shall  rule  over  the  nations  of  the 
earth,  if  he  will  accept  salvation.  Search  for  the  man  that  drove 
the  spear  into  my  side,  and  tell  him  there  is  a  nearer  way  to  my 
heart  than  that.  Tell  him  I  forgive  him  freely,  and  that  he  can 
be  saved  if  he  will  accept  salvation  as  a  gift.  Tell  him  there  is  a 
nearer  way  to  my  heart  than  that." 

AN    EARNEST    LEADER. 

Mr.  Moody  once  consented  to  permit  an  expert  in  palmistry 
to  read  his  hand  and  was  immensely  pleased  when  told  that  his 
distinguishing  characteristics  were  love  of  his  fellowmen  and 
ability  as  a  leader.  "That's  good,"  said  he.  "I'll  try  to  lead 
every  man  in  the  world  to  Christ." 

OVERCOMING  JEALOUSY. 

Here  is  a  story  that  Mr.  Moody  told  himself:  "  I  found  myself 
in  Chicago  a  few  years  ago  getting  jealous  of  a  prominent  clergy- 
man. He  was  saying  harsh  things  about  me.  I  found  that  I  was 
feeling  harshly  toward  him.  I  said  to  myself :  '  Moody,  this 
won't  do.'  I  went  to  him  and  told  him  that  I  wanted  him  to  take 
charge  of  a  prominent  meeting.  He  said  he'd  come.  Then  I 
took  pains  to  see  that  he  should  have  a  tremendously  large  audi- 
ence. He  preached  a  fine  sermon.  He  came  to  me  and  said  kind 
words.  Since  then  we  have  been  great  friends.  Don't  ever  let 
jealousy  get  control  of  you." 


MOODY'S   ILLUSTRATIONS.  501 

TREATMENT   OF  CRITICS. 

When  Miss  Helen  Gould  laid  the  corner  stone  at  Overtoun 
Hall,  at  Hast  Northfield,  Mr.  Moody  saw  one  of  his  relatives  com- 
ing toward  the  platform.  The  exercises  had  been  started,  but  Mr. 
Moody  turned  to  his  wife,  and  said,  so  that  every  one  on  the  plat- 
form could  hear  :  "  There  comes  Aunt  Mandy  Holton,  mamma  ; 
make  a  good  place  for  her  on  the  platform,"  and  his  order  was 
carried  out.  "  Aunt  Mandy  "  had  been  one  who  criticised  Mr. 
Moody  severely. 

THE    PLAGUE    OF    FROGS. 

Look  at  poor  old  Pharaoh  down  there  in  Bgypt,  when  the 
plague  of  frogs  was  on  him.  What  an  awful  time  he  must  have 
had !  Frogs  in  the  fields,  and  frogs  in  the  houses  ;  frogs  in  the 
bedrooms,  and  frogs  in  the  kneading  troughs.  When  the  king 
went  to  bed,  a  frog  would  j  ump  on  to  his  face  ;  when  he  cut  into  a 
loaf  of  bread,  there  was  a  frog  in  the  middle  of  it.  Nothing  but 
frogs  everywhere  !  Frogs,  frogs,  frogs  !  He  stood  it  as  long  as  he 
could  ;  and  then  he  sent  for  Moses,  and  begged  him  to  take  them 
away.  "  When  would  you  like  to  have  me  do  it?"  says  Moses. 
Now  just  listen  to  what  he  says.  You  would  think  he  would  say, 
Now  !  this  minute !  I  have  had  them  long  enough  !  But  he  says, 
"  To-morrow."  Kept  the  frogs  another  day,  when  he  might  have 
got  rid  of  them  at  once  !  That  is  just  like  you,  sinner.  You  say 
you  want  to  be  saved  ;  but  you  are  willing  to  keep  your  hateful, 
hideous  sins  until  to-morrow,  instead  of  being  rid  of  them  now. 

HEELS   VERSUS    HEART 

One  of  the  seminary  girls  in  Northfield  intimated  to  Mr. 
Moody  that  dancing  among  family  friends  was  desirable.  Mr. 
Moody's  reply  was  :  "  My  dear  girl,  I  would  a  thousand  times 
rather  have  you  get  more  grace  in  your  heart  and  less  in  your 

heels." 

HOW  TO  TREAT   DISCOURAGEMENTS. 

There  is  a  large  class  of  people  who  are  always  looking  upon 
the  dark  side.  Some  time  ago,  I  myself  got  under  the  juniper 
tree.  In  those  days  I  used  to  fish  all  night,  and  catch  nothing. 


504  MOODY' S    ILLUSTRATIONS. 

HOW  TO  MAKE  CONFESSION. 

Every  man  ought  to  make  a  public  confession  if  his  sin  has 
been  public.  Suppose,  now,  I  have  done  this  man  a  wrong,  and 
no  one  knows  it  but  us  two.  Then  the  confession  ought  to  be 
between  us  two  alone.  I  don't  believe  in  making  confession  of 
such  a  thing  publicly  ;  it  isn't  called  for.  Suppose  I  had  a  diffi- 
culty with  my  family.  It  ought  to  be  settled  with  my  family.  It 
needn't  go  forth  to  the  world.  But  suppose  I  have  been  a  public 
blasphemer — have  been  seen  reeling  in  the  streets  of  Northfield  a 
drunkard — it  is  known  by  all  the  people  here — I  ought  to  make 
my  confession  so  that  the  whole  town  will  hear  it,  and  the  chances 
are  they  will  receive  my  testimony. 

THE    BELIEVER'S    SECURITY. 

What  is  it  that  protects  the  crown  of  Victoria  ?  It  is  the  army. 
The  army  keeps  the  crown  perfectly  safe.  I  remember  in  London 
holding  meetings  in  the  Bast  End,  and  as  we  were  going  along  the 
streets  one  night,  we  met  some  soldiers  marching.  I  said : 
"Where  are  those  soldiers  going?"  "They  are  going  to  the 
Bank  of  England."  It  was  the  law  of  the  land  that  just  as  soon 
as  the  sun  went  down,  a  certain  number  of  soldiers  went  to  the 
Bank  of  England  and  stayed  there  till  daybreak.  That  made  the 
bank  perfectly  safe.  There  was  no  chance  for  thieves  to  get  in 
there.  So,  if  our  life  is  hid  in  Christ,  how  are  the  powers  of 
darkness  going  to  get  at  it  ? 

LIBERATED    FROM  PRISON. 

There  was  a  story  told  me  while  I  was  in  Philadelphia  by  Capt. 
Trumbull.  He  said  when  he  was  in  I/ibby  Prison  the  news  came 
that  his  wife  was  in  Washington,  and  his  little  child  was  dying ; 
and  the  next  news  that  came  was  that  his  child  was  dead,  and  the 
mother  remained  in  Washington  in  hopes  that  her  husband  could 
come  with  her  and  take  that  child  off  to  New  England  and  bury 
it  ;  but  that  was  the  last  he  heard.  One  day  the  news  came  into 
the  prison  that  there  was  a  boat  up  from  City  Point,  and  there 
were  over  nine  hundred  men  in  the  prison  rejoicing  at  once.  They 
expected  to  get  good  news. 


506  MOODY' S  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

and  at  last  there  came  the  governor  of  the  prison,  bringing  a  dis- 
patch from  the  Queen  pardoning  the  man ! 

O,  they  said,  what  joy  there  was  in  that  cell,  what  joy  there 
was  in  that  man's  heart  when  deliverance  came  !  I  have  come  to 
bring  you  a  proclamation  of  deliverance.  You  are  slaves.  Sen- 
tence is  out  against  you.  You  are  already  condemned,  and  wait- 
ing for  the  execution.  I  have  come  to  tell  you  of  One  who  will 
set  you  free  if  you  will  believe  Him. 

SOWING  AND   REAPING. 

I  remember  reading  in  history  that  in  the  days  of  Louis  XI. 
he  had  a  cruel,  wicked  bishop  that  was  persecuting  some  of  the 
saints  of  the  Most  High  God,  and  the  king  wanted  to  know  how 
he  could  make  their  punishment  more  cruel  and  bitter.  "  Well," 
said  the  bishop,  "  make  them  a  cage,  and  have  it  so  short  and 
narrow  they  cannot  lie  down,  and  so  low  they  cannot  stand  straight, 
and  they  will  have  to  be  in  a  bent  position  all  the  while."  The 
king  ordered  the  cage  made,  and  the  very  first  one  that  went  into 
that  cage  was  the  bishop  himself.  He  had  offended  the  king  before 
he  got  the  cage  finished,  and  for  fourteen  long  years  the  king  kept 
him  in  that  cage.  He  had  to  reap  what  he  sowed. 

ON   DANGEROUS  GROUND. 

Be  sure  that  your  sin,  young  man,  will  find  you  out.  It  may 
be  this  very  day  you  took  out  of  your  employer's  till  twenty-five 
cents.  Perhaps  last  week  you  took  fifty  cents  and  went  to  the 
theatre  with  it.  But  you  say,  "  I  will  put  it  back  some  time." 
That  is  the  way  these  defaulters  begin.  That  is  the  way  men 
that  become  forgers  begin.  Men  don't  go  to  a  precipice 
and  jump  down.  They  come  down  step  by  step.  It  is  these 
little  things — twenty-five  cents  or  a  dollar.  You  say,  "  I  can 
replace  that  any  time  ;  that  don't  amount  to  anything."  Ah,  my 
friends,  "  Be  not  deceived."  A  man  that  steals  twenty-five  cents 
is  just  as  much  a  thief  as  one  that  steals  $5000.  He  has  made 
his  conscience  guilty.  He  is  not  the  man  he  was  before  he  took 
it.  He  is  laying  a  bad  foundation,  and  if  he  attempts  to  build  on 
that  foundation  the  structure  will  fall. 


MOO DV S  ILLUSTRATIONS.  507 

THE  GOSPEL  OF  FREEDOM. 

When  Wilberforce  was  trying  to  get  a  bill  through  Parliament 
to  liberate  all  the  slaves  under  the  British  flag,  away  off  in  the 
islands  subject  to  the  British  flag  there  was  great  excitement. 
They  were  anxious  to  get  their  liberty.  When  they  were  expect- 
ing the  vessel  which  would  bring  the  news  that  the  bill  had  failed 
or  succeeded,  thousands  of  people  went  down  to  the  shore  to  get 
the  first  news.  The  captain  of  the  coming  vessel  knew  how 
anxious  they  were  to  get  it.  As  soon  as  the  vessel  was  in  sight, 
and  he  saw  the  multitude  on  the  shore  watching  for  him,  he 
shouted  the  words,  "  Free  !  free  !  free  ! "  and  they  all  took  up  the 
cry,  and  it  spread  through  the  island. 

Oh,  my  friends,  we  came  here  to-day  to  proclaim  the  Gospel 
message.  "  Free,  free."  You  will  never  know  what  liberty  is 
until  you  know  Christ.  This  very  hour  you  can  be  free  if  you 
want  to  be.  We  come  to  proclaim  the  Gospel  of  freedom  here 

to-day. 

THAT   COLD   WORD    "DUTY." 

I  am  tired  of  the  word  duty ;  tired  of  hearing  duty,  duty, 
duty.  Men  go  to  church  because  it  is  their  duty.  They  go  to 
prayer-meeting  because  it  is  their  duty.  You  can  never  reach  a 
man's  heart  if  you  talk  to  him  because  it  is  your  duty.  Suppose 
I  told  my  wife  I  loved  her  because  it  was  my  duty — what  would 
she  say?  Once  every  year  I  go  up  to  Massachusetts  to  visit  my 
aged  mother.  Suppose,  when  I  go  next  time,  I  tell  her  that  I 
knew  she  was  old  and  that  she  was  living  on  borrowed  time ;  that 
I  knew  she  had  always  done  a  great  deal  for  me,  and  that  I  came 
to  see  her  every  year  because  it  was  my  duty.  Don't  you  think 
she  would  say,  "  Well  then,  my  son,  you  needn't  take  the  trouble 
to  come  again?"  L/et  us  strike  for  a  higher  plane. 

PUT  YOURSELF   IN    THEIR    WAY. 

There  was  a  prominent  minister  in  New  York  City — a  good 
man  too — and  one  of  his  elders  said  to  him  :  "  Why  can't  we 
have  an  inquiry  meeting?  It  seems  to  me  we  might  have  a  great 
many  converts  just  now."  The  minister  said:  "Well,  just  to 


510  MOODY' S  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Just  that  little  kindness  showed  I  was  in  sympathy  with  him. 
Another  young  man,  just  out  of  the  penitentiary,  came  to  me,  and 
after  I  had  talked  with  him  for  some  time,  he  didn't  seem  to  think 
I  was  in  sympathy  with  him.  I  offered  him  a  little  money,  "No," 
he  said,  "I  don't  want  your  money."  "  What  do  you  want?"  "I 
want  some  one  to  have  confidence  in  me."  I  got  down  and 
prayed  with  him,  and  in  my  prayer  I  called  him  a  brother  and  he 
shed  tears  the  moment  I  called  him  a  brother.  So  if  we  are  going 
to  reach  men  we  must  make  them  believe  we  are  their  brothers. 

MORE    LIFE   WANTED. 

I  have  come  to  this  conclusion,  that  if  we  are  going  to  have 
successful  Gospel  meetings,  we  have  got  to  have  a  little  more  life 
in  them.  Life  is  found  in  singing  new  hymns,  for  instance.  I 
know  some  churches  that  have  been  singing  about  a  dozen  hymns 
for  the  last  twenty  years,  such  hymns  as  "  Rock  of  Ages,"  "There 
is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood,"  etc.  The  hymns  are  always  good, 
but  we  want  a  variety.  We  want  new  hymns  as  well  as  the 
old  ones.  I  find  it  wakes  up  a  congregation  very  much  to  bring 
in  now  and  then  a  new  hymn. 

And  if  you  cannot  wake  them  up  with  preaching,  let  us  sing 
it  into  them.  I  believe  the  time  is  coming  when  we  will  make  a 
good  deal  more  of  just  singing  the  Gospel.  Then  when  a  man  is 
converted,  let  us  have  him  in  these  meetings,  giving  his  testimony. 
Some  people  are  afraid  of  that.  I  believe  the  secret  of  John  Wes- 
ley's success  was  that  he  set  every  man  to  work  as  soon  as  he  was 
converted.  Of  course,  you  have  to  guard  that  point.  Some  say 
they  become  spiritually  proud — no  doubt  of  that ;  but  if  they 
don't  go  to  work  they  become  spiritually  lazy,  and  I  don't  know 
what's  the  difference. 

BRINGING  OUT    LATENT    TALENTS. 

I  believe  there  are  a  great  many  in  our  church  prayer  meet- 
ings who  could  be  brought  out  and  made  to  be  a  great  help  if  the 
ministers  would  only  pay  their  attention  to  it.  How  many  lawyers, 
physicians,  public  speakers  we  have  who  do  nothing  to  actively 


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overcome  ;  the  rising  tide  of  Evangelism  ;  the  great  multitudes  who  attended  their  meetings  ;  and 

Enthusiasm  that  stirred  Great  Britain  from  centre  to  circumference. 
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/-»|-||^jpvinp|^VT^  The  work  is  printed  from  clear,  new  type,  on  fine  calendered  paper,  and  c 
C/vJl>!  LF1  HJ1>I^  ortavo  Volume  of  over  500  pages.  It  is  Superbly  Embellished  with  a  vas 

Phototype  Engravings  which  charm  all  who  see  them. 

Bound  in  Fine  Cloth,  Stamped  in  Colors,  Plain  Edges,  - 
Bound  in  Morocco  Grained  Keratol,  Gilt  Side  Title,  Gilt  Edges, 
Bound  in  Genuine  Morocco,  Gilt  Side  Title,  Gilt  Edges,  - 

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will  not  be  obliged  to  take  the  work  unless  it  corresponds  with  the  description  in  every  particular. 

•         •,-•-.-   4   :.    :    i.   ..   'I   • 


L  A  B  O  R.  S 

OF' 

|  WIGiiTL 
••MOODY 


' 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


30112000397825 


